Roommates, right?
by awkwardshipper
Summary: Emma in search for a new apartment, stumbles upon one in the Upper East Side. Regina hoping to fill the quietness in her recently empty apartment, welcomes the blonde as her new roommate. Two different people, one apartment. Rated T but might change to M, ways from now.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: First of all, thanks for reading. Secondly, I'm not familiar with New York and if you guys have better places that are farther apart let me know. I, sadly, don't own any of the characters or even Once Upon A Time. Lastly, if you have anything you'd like to see, feel free to let me know. I appreciate any feedback.**

Approaching the building, Emma started to doubt herself and nervousness took over. She was located in the expensive side of New York and the building looked far out her price range. But she desperately needed a place, after her previous roommate decided to get married and move out, Emma now had no way of paying for her current place. She thought of finding a new roommate, August had been begging to live with her, but Emma decided a new place and change of scenery appealed to her better than living with a boy. After reading several newspapers, she finally found an apartment in the Upper East Side of New York. The person had not state their price range but by judging the exterior of the apartment building, Emma knew she couldn't afford the place. But she already made the trip from Brooklyn and wanted to see the place out.

As she entered the building, Emma realized she did not know the apartment number or even which floor it was on. _Great job, Emma. Screwing everything up, as usual. _Trying to remember the apartment number, she raked her brain for the slightest clue. She couldn't believe it. How could she forget about the apartment number? _Jesus, Emma you really should think things through. _Emma failed to notice the front desk receptionist, waiting patiently for the frantic, nervous blonde to ask for help.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist decided to finally ask.

"Oh God. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there. How could I not? You're like right there. Uh, yeah I could use some help. I'm looking for a Regina Mills. She's searching for a roommate and I happen to be in need of an apartment. I saw her ad in the paper and got the address and everything but not the apartment number. Got myself in a bit of dilemma, you see. But you are probably thinking I'm some random stranger; stalking her."

The receptionist just smiled. She experienced people like Emma on a regular basis. They saw the fancy building, and thought they could never live here. Or they were afraid of being judged; sometimes they just felt out of place.

"It's fine. If you are a stalker, then you are quite an attractive stalker." She learnt that complimenting people helps to calm them.

A soft blush, crept on Emma's cheeks, but she took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure.

"Sorry, but I didn't catch the name of the person you are looking for," pondered the receptionist.

"Searching for a Regina Mills. Someone by that name does live here, right?" Emma started to rub her hands against her skintight jeans, a habit that formed whenever she was nervous.

"Of course, Miss Mills. She lives on the sixth floor, apartment 628. Good luck." The receptionist stated in a weary voice, trying to shed hope on Emma's situation.

Emma heard the change of voice but decided not to question it. She needed every ounce of luck she could get, even if it was out of pity.

"Thanks, umm I didn't catch your name. I'm Emma."

"Isabelle, but everyone calls me Belle. Very nice to make your acquaintance Emma." Belle put her hand out to shake Emma's and pointed her towards the elevators.

Pressing the button for the sixth floor, Emma thought of all the possible outcomes and how she would handle each one. She needed to prepare for the worst. Who knows what kind of person this Regina Mills could be?

Regina settled on the couch with a glass of red wine, after arriving home after a long day in court. Her boss finally allowed her to second chair on an important case for the firm, and everything went downhill. A case, which should have been concluded within an hour, lasted for over five hours, which concluded when the judge called for a well-needed recess. Regina wanted to kick off her heels and relax. But the leading lawyer wanted her to find anything that could benefit the case. Regina knew she had a long night ahead of her. She was due in court in less than twelve hours and Regina just wanted to sleep. But she had to prove to Gold that he picked the right person for the job, even if it meant sacrificing a few hours of sleep. She went straight to work, Regina looked through every database, news article and websites about the plaintiff. The plaintiff was suing their client for sexual harassment in the work place but Mr. Jones did not have a history for sexual misconduct. Regina had been searching for three hours and still empty handed. She looked over at the clock and noticed it was almost 10:00. _Think Regina, why would someone want to sue Mr. Jones? Maybe he was just a walking penis but never got caught. _But she could not afford to think like that. Regina knew even if Mr. Jones was guilty, she was responsible for making him look innocent. She was in need of her own mini recess.

Heading over to the fridge, she poured herself a bit too much wine. Leaning against the counter, the quietness of the apartment made her cringe a bit. Her mother bought the place when Regina was still in law school, hoping to stray her daughter away from college parties. Regina and her childhood best friend, Kathryn, moved in together, and both pitched in on groceries and amenities. Kathryn received a job offer in Chicago working in the DA's office, leaving her best friend alone in the big ole' apartment. Regina did not mind the quietness but after having a roommate for over five years, it sometimes annoyed you. She put in an ad in a two papers, hoping to get an offer within three weeks. It's been two months.

Regina missed Kathryn awfully bad and contemplated calling her, but knew she'd be busy with some hot case. Making her way back to reality, she heard a faint knock on the door.

"What the hell? It's 10:14." Regina huffed to herself.

Emma oblivious to the lateness of her visit hoped someone was home. She tried to imagine the kind of person, who lived in the Upper East Side but also needed a roommate. Caught up in her own imagination, Emma did not hear the click of Regina's heels against the hard wood floor or the opening of the door.

"May I help you?" Regina spoke in her stern, cold voice.

Looking at the person in front of her, Regina examined every inch of the blonde. She was wearing way too tight skinny jeans, a white v-cut t-shirt that was under a tacky red leather jacket. Her hands were placed in the back pockets of her jeans; hair in soft curls that fell pass her shoulders. There was a small amount of makeup on the blonde's face; either she cared very little about her appearance or she didn't have enough time. But either way, Regina wanted to know why this person was at her door.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Emma Swan. Saw your ad for a roommate." Emma said whilst rubbing her hands on her jeans.

"You were supposed to call first. That's why there's only a phone number and my address. How did you get the apartment number, by the way?"

"Your receptionist, Belle. I thought I forgot the apartment number. Look I live in Brooklyn; it is a hassle trying to get here. I didn't mean to interrupt, whatever you had going on." Emma said while pointing to the glass of wine.

Rolling her eyes, Regina opened her door wider allowing Emma to enter her apartment. She couldn't just turn the blonde away, plus it might take her mind off work.

Emma smiled faintly when she passed Regina, hoping she hadn't already screwed up her chance. Belle was right, she did need luck.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter was basically finished when I posted the first one. The updates will be completely random, but I hope to have a new ****chapter every week. Enjoy!**

_Why would Belle give a random stranger my apartment number? She knows how much I value my privacy and it's extremely late. Why couldn't Miss Swan wait until tomorrow, when I didn't have an important case to prepare for?_

In the apartment, Emma noticed an open computer and a stack of paper work on the coffee table in front of the couch. _Shit, I did interrupt something. She was working. Okay, I'll just make it quick._ Hearing the close of the door, Emma turned around to face Regina, in attempt to apologize for her disruption.

"Miss Swan, why…" Regina managed to speak before Emma.

" I'd prefer to be called Emma," she interjected before Regina could finish her sentence.

"I'm more comfortable with Miss Swan. As I was saying, why are you in search for a new apartment?"

"I, uh, umm, my roommate was recently married and my current place is a bit too much for me to handle by myself." Emma didn't know how to handle herself around Regina. She came off as a hard ass but they were probably only several years apart. Emma desperately needed a place and if this woman in front of her, continued playing hardball, she might end up living with August and his vintage typewriter.

"What is your current occupation?" Regina noticed how nervous Emma became and tried make her feel welcomed. First thing would be to move away from the door and into somewhere more conversation friendly. She made her way towards the kitchen and motioned at the island, that was a cut off from the living room area and kitchen.

Following Regina's lead, Emma proceeded to sit down, at the island and muster some courage to answer the brunette's question.

"I'm a detective. I work at the 23rd precinct in lower Manhattan."

Regina glanced in Emma's direction, and gently smiled at her. She always had a level of respect for people that desired to serve and protect others.

"I am very grateful for your service to the citizens of New York. Would you like something to drink?" she asked while slowly sipping her glass of pinot noir.

Emma heard those words and other forms of them more times than she could remember. But for some reason, when Regina expressed her gratitude, it felt like it was genuinely sincere. People have a habit of thanking Emma or any service officer for doing their jobs because they feel inclined to do so, not because they were appreciative. If she happened to be wearing the uniform, more times than once someone would approach Emma and say a "thank you". It never truly bothered her, she knew everyone meant well, but hearing the brunette actually mean it, made doing the job ten times better.

"You are very welcome and just a glass of water would be fine." Emma said while returning the smile. Perhaps, she had a chance after all.

Reaching to open the cabinet, Regina's well-fitted dress rose up a bit and offered Emma a glimpse at the brunette's toned figure, especially her legs. _She probably does yoga or pilates, or some fancy form of exercise. That dress does fit her extremely— God, Emma, snap out of it, this could be your new roommate. _Quickly looking away, Emma figured she could interrogate Regina; after having a few crazy roommates, it was only a matter of safety.

"So, Regina, is it okay if I call you that," Emma's first question.

"Regina is fine, dear." She placed the glass of water in front of Emma and leaned against the counter, opposite the island. It gave her a direct line of vision, but also kept space between the two.

"Thanks. Okay, Regina, what about you? What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a lawyer. I work with Gold &Associates."

"A lawyer and detective living together, shouldn't there be a joke about that or something," Emma chuckled a bit. She caught a glimpse of Regina's face and saw the brunette did not appreciate her little comment. _Tough crowd, man, she's uptight. _

"Well, did you have a previous roommate or lived here with your boyfriend?" Emma immediately regretted the final part of her question. She squirmed a bit, waiting for the brunette to retaliate.

"No, Miss Swan. I did not live here with my boyfriend and to save you the breath; I'm not currently seeing anyone. But I've lived here with my best friend, Kathryn, for the past five years. But she recently received a job offer, elsewhere." Regina managed to spit out without sounding like a bitch.

Giving the woman in front of her a half smile, Emma tried to remain calm. Being a trained police officer, she knew techniques to keep her composure. She quickly became one of the top officers in her unit, but there were times when others intimidated Emma. Of course, she never relieved her inner little girl, but instead she would stare directly at them and give her famous death stare. It worked ninety-eight percent of the time.

This Regina Mills might scare Emma, but she would not back down.

"Working on a big case?" Emma nodded at the computer and pile of papers by the couch.

Regina, immediately feeling embarrassed, walked over to the coffee table and reorganized and neatly stacked everything on her "work area."

Emma smirked, watching Regina hustle busily, trying to clean the mess. It was interesting to know the brunette, sort of valued the opinion of others.

Pulling some loss strands behind her ears, Regina answered Emma's question. "You could say. It's my first case, well I'm second chairing, and I'd like to make an impression on my boss."

"I understand. When the Captain assigned me my first murder, caffeine became my best friend. Stayed up for hours, trying to find connections or the slightest clue that could break the case wide open."

Emma quickly quitted down, not wanting to frighten Regina. People were usually scared when she ranted on about a current case or previous cases. She learnt the hard way; murder is not a great conversation topic or starter.

"Same situation, but instead of murder, it's sexual harassment in the workplace."

Regina plopped down on the couch; desperately wishing this case would vanish.

"Is your client doing the suing or being sued?" Emma asked while walking towards Regina, sitting on a chair opposite of the coffee table.

_Should I let this person get comfortable in my apartment? I, mean, already offered her a drink and no one else showed interest in the place. I'll just run a background check on her when she leaves and after I'm done with this case. _

"Our client is being sued. But I can't seem to find anything about the plaintiff. She's squeaky clean."

"One thing, I've learnt after working numerous cases, no one is every squeaky clean." Emma readjusted her posture in the seat with both arms on her thighs. _Do I sound cocky right now?_

"I've been searching for three hours before you showed up, _nada_," Regina sighed deeply.

Emma found herself intrigued by the woman sitting across from her. At first, Emma thought Regina would be some corporate or Wall Street badass but instead, a lawyer. Thinking the brunette cared little about the opinion of others, she was then surprised with Regina's comment about impressing her boss. Plus, she spoke Spanish. From the accent on that one word, it did not sound like someone who took the language in high school. It would be interesting to learn more about her.

"What are you thinking about?" Regina noticed the familiar look of deep in thought on Emma's face; Kathryn had a similar thinking face.

"Wow, you are pretty straightforward. Just wondering, but does the plaintiff have a history of filing charges of sexual harassment or maybe she's been in court before?" Emma felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She cursed herself for being caught off guard so easily. At least, she was quick on her feet.

Noticing the blush on Emma's face, Regina being Regina, commented, "Don't be embarrassed, dear. I'm known for being straightforward, it's what I do best. That's why I am a lawyer. But I am unaware of the history with the law of the plaintiff. Thinking about it now, I have several things I have not researched about her."

"You can thank me later." She noticed the glimmer of light in Regina's eyes and knew something was cooking up in her beautiful mind.

"How about I thank you during dinner?"

Dinner? Was Emma hearing correctly? All she wanted was a decent apartment and hopefully a roommate without a history of mental insanity. Why dinner, of all the meals in the world, Regina chose dinner. Jesus, this woman is full of surprises.

Regina realized how flustered Emma became and her cheeks were the colors of strawberries.

"You gave me an idea that might help the case tomorrow. Hopefully, everything goes well and I'd like to thank you. Dinner seems to work, for almost anyone, and I want to get to know you, before I make my decision about you being my roommate."

"Right, yeah that sounds cool. My shift ends early tomorrow, fingers crossed no one gets murdered. Shit, that sounded really insensitive, but let me give you my number and email address, just in case." Emma already knew her cheeks were red she could feel them.

Regina rummaged through her purse, in search of her phone, after battling through a jungle of lipstick, pens, headphones and bills she finally located her phone. Handing it over to Emma, she watched as the blonde type with a great focus on her face and Regina could not help but smile. Emma reminded her of a nervous puppy, adorably cute but a bit jumpy.

"So, umm, my contact information is in there. Let me know, what time you are planning our 'date' and I'll make sure it works." Emma smiled.

Regina got up from her seat and made her way towards the door, with Emma following like a tail. _Seriously, like a nervous puppy._

Before Emma properly exited out of the apartment, Regina gave the blonde a one over. Even though her jeans were inappropriately tight, they outlined and fit her extremely well. But the red leather jacket was a no. Emma finally out of the apartment and in the exact same spot she was in thirty minutes ago, thanked Regina.

"I believe I'm suppose to do that tomorrow night, Miss Swan." Regina stated in a matter of fact voice. That sounded somewhat sexy in Emma's ears.

"But, still thank you." Emma said with a smirk.

Regina gave her a nod and sent Emma on her way. But as Emma walked back to the elevators, Regina said something that caught both of them off guard.

"Oh, and dear, wear a dress tomorrow night. Leave the jacket and jeans at home."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I wanted to say thank you for those of you that left reviews. It meant the world and made my day when I read them. I did not intend for this chapter to be so long, there was a different direction for the chapter. But I'm pleased with how it ended. Chapter four is already outlined in my head and I'd love to give you another update soon. I played "Rather Be" by Clean Bandits and Jess Glynne on repeat while writing this chapter. Check it out! That's all for now and tell me what you thought.**

_Oh, and dear, wear a dress tomorrow night. Leave the jacket and jeans at home. _

Had Emma heard correctly? _Wear a dress. _A dress? Obviously, a woman like Regina, dined at luxurious places and Emma arriving in her usual attire would have caused for some glances and stares. But a dress? Regina could have said, "wear something nice" and Emma probably would not have questioned her. Did Regina think Emma was far from classy and just a below average woman? Yes, Emma happened not to own very much fancy clothing but there was something she could throw together.

_Maybe, I should just stop overthinking it. I own like two or three dresses, I'll be fine. But what happens if I'm underdressed, will that disqualify me for being her roommate? No, Emma snap out of it. Breathe._

Emma snapped out of her train of thought, when the elevator indicated it arrived in the lobby. Taking a deep breath, she exited the elevator and tried to remember which way lead to the exit of the building. Making a sharp left, Emma sighed in relief seeing Belle, the receptionist, packing her bag, looking straight ahead she saw the big, glass double doors where she entered moments before.

Belle, hearing footsteps walking towards her, turned around and noticed the blonde who came asking for Regina Mills.

"So, stalker, did Regina accept you with open arms?" Belle mentally smacked herself in face for asking such a stupid question.

Emma chuckled inwardly because she noticed how mortified Belle appeared after her comment. "I take offense to that." She said while placing a hand on her heart to show how "hurt and offended" she was.

Belle smiled and feeling relieved Emma did not think she was a complete idiot. It would be nice to see the blonde around frequently.

"Well, you obviously survived. So I'm guessing you did something right."

"Regina can be a bit of a umm… what's the word? Let's just say she's intimidating and a hard ass."

Belle laughed a bit to loud, and a blush quickly appeared on her face.

"It wasn't that funny but I'm glad you think I'm amusing. But after a bit, she opened up and even invited me to dinner, tomorrow."

"I'm quite surprised. I did not know Ms. Mills had a soft spot. Maybe she takes a liking to blondes. You know, her best friend, Kathryn was also blonde?" Belle stopped herself before she said anything that might get her fired.

_Do I remind Regina of this Kathryn? Maybe Belle here has a point, she probably liked me because I might resemble Kathryn._

"Well, we'll see how much she actually likes me over dinner. Live anywhere near Brooklyn, we would share a cab."

"Really? I live in the lower east side and I didn't feel like taking the subway."

_I really hope Regina likes Emma. I could get use to seeing her around._

Emma suddenly felt a wave of sleep come over her and she was clueless about the time. Checking her phone, the clock read 10:57. _Shit, I have to be at work for 8. I can't believe Regina let me in at this hour. _

"Everything worked out perfectly." Leaving the building together, Belle hailed a taxi, both grateful Regina lived in a taxi popular part of New York, escaping the first signs of winter.

_Oh God. Did I really just say that? What if Emma thinks I'm flirting with her, I mean I was but just a bit. It was a normal amount of flirtation. Completely harmless, right? Calm down Regina, Emma could not come to dinner with the current attire she wore. It was good intentions. _

With her back against the door, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. It had been a while she acted impulsively. Usually things were thought through, and consequences made clear before she acted on anything mundane or significant. She was even quite shocked, when a request for dinner was made. They could have done celebratory drinks in the apartment again, and finished the "interview". But instead, she asked the blonde out for dinner and told her to wear a dress. _Hopefully, Miss Swan did not read too much into it like I did._

Sighing a bit too loudly, Regina took her now empty wine glass and delicately placed it in the sink. Reminding herself about the current research, she cursed herself for allowing the conversation with Emma to go on for such a long time. But the blonde did give her useful tips for finding information about the plaintiff.

First, Regina accessed the plaintiff criminal records; perhaps she had a pass with the police for filing false complaints. That came up empty, only several unpaid parking tickets. Regina stopped her search and thought for several minutes. Mr. Jones insisted and cried, (he literally cried) about his innocence. He mentioned several times, about never have held a conversation with the plaintiff. They worked in different departments and barely crossed paths, expect for work parties.

_Of course! This makes sense. I hate calling people late at night but it's for my job. _

Regina leafed through the stacks of paper and found Mr. Jones contact numbers. If she was thinking correctly, Mr. Jones and several of his co-workers could help clarify the entire situation. Dialing his house phone first, Regina finally kicked her heels off and tucked her feet underneath her legs. The ringing stopped and she heard the line open. She heard him mumble "This better be good" and cleared his throat before actually greeting her.

"Yes, hello Killian speaking."

_Why would anyone name their child Killian? _

"Uh, yes. Mr. Jones this is Regina. One of your lawyers from Gold&Associate."

"Right, right brunette with the killer body. What do you want?"

Regina rolled her eyes, and calmed herself before she said something that might get her kicked off the case or even fired.

"I have a few questions about any recent work parties or gatherings your company had."

"And this couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Killian asked with a yawn.

"I'm sorry, if I disrupted your beauty sleep. But while you were sleeping, I was working, working trying to keep you out of jail or paying a lump sum of money. Quite frankly, I'm having second doubts about your innocence. But if I did not value my job, I'd be sleeping and not busting my ass off. So, no it can not and will not wait until tomorrow." Regina snapped, wishing he would just cooperate with her.

There was silence for a few moments before Killian spoke again.

Softly Mr. Jones replied, "Your questions?"

Feeling a bit accomplished Regina smiled and preceded to ask the following questions. "About how recent was your last company party?"

"Let me think. The agency has a party every time we sign someone. And about two months ago we signed young baseball player, Pablo Sanchez."

Scribbling notes on her legal pad, Regina then asked "And do all departments attend this party?"

"Everyone who can, yes. I don't see how this is relevant to my case."

"And that was the last gathering or party the company had," ignoring Mr. Jones last comment.

"That would be correct. We haven't signed anyone new."

"What happened at this party?"

Then the other line went silent. Regina could hear him breathing and did not have time to waste. Whatever happened between him and the plaintiff at the party would have to be told now.

"Mr. Jones, I can't help you, if you won't tell me about that night. Did you or did you not sexually harass Miss Simmons at this party?"

"I uh-umm, I don't remember."

Now Regina was completely furious. "What do you mean, you don't remember? It is a simple yes or no question."

"I can't remember much about that night. All I can recollect is arriving at the party with two beautiful women on my arm. Then drinking to my heart's content. I had some champagne, a couple glasses of scotch and a few swigs of my own rum. Woke up the next morning, with a bloody headache and no memory of the night before."

_This is good. Maybe he had an encounter with Miss Simmons and maybe he did behave inappropriately but being how drunk he was, the charges would easily drop. _

"This is great news, Mr. Jones. Well hopefully it is. Are you close with anyone at work?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Killian replied hesitantly.

"I'm going to need several of their contact numbers. They might be able to collaborate your story and I'd like to find out if anyone saw you with Miss Simmons."

"I don't know how you are going to win my case with this information but I'll email the contacts."

"Don't worry your pretty head, dear. I've thought of everything."

"Okay, whatever. You are the lawyer. You should be receiving an email soon."

Smiling a bit too wide, Regina checked her inbox, which had a new message from Killian Jones. "Thank you for your patience. I'll see you in court tomorrow."

Without replying, Mr. Jones hung up the phone and returned to bed. Not bothered by the rudeness of Mr. Jones, Regina went to work, dialing the numbers he had sent. She knew it would be a long night but with any luck it would pay off tomorrow.

**The Next Day**

"Look sharp, Emma." August shouted at a dazed Emma.

Emma had a lot on her mind and it did not help there were not any crimes to solve or investigate. She anticipated a phone call, text or even an email from Regina but the brunette made no contact with her. Emma shifted ended in five hours and she needed to get home and shower before a night out. The precinct was fairly quiet, and most days the blonde would be grateful but today all she prayed for was a bit of a distraction.

"Sorry, I'm a bit out of it." Emma replied whilst rubbing her eyes and delivering a big yawn. She didn't get much sleep either.

August sat on the chair adjacent to Emma's desk and pushed a bear claw and cup of coffee towards her.

In midst of her yawn, she glanced at August with a suspicious look on her face but shrugged and accepted the gift. She didn't care or wanted to know his intentions but her body desperately craved sugar and caffeine.

"So, Emma did you do something different with your hair? It looks good."

Emma knew exactly where he was going with this. She made it clear of her intentions with the apartment/living situation. Emma was not looking for a new roommate for her old apartment; she wanted a new roommate and a new apartment. But August insisted he could change Emma's mind.

Before she responded to his flattery and bribery, Emma sipped her coffee and bit into her bear claw, she would need the energy.

"August, I've made this clear a million times. I've even put it into terms a baby would understand. It is not that I don't want to live with you; I'm sure you'd make a great roommate. But I want to live in a different apartment. I've been in that place for over two years. I'll be done with my lease in a month and a change in scenery might do me well."

"Will you be able to find a new place in a month? I mean it's New York, places go off the market pretty fast." August kept pushing.

Emma dropped her head on the desk and tried not to smack the beard off his face. She did not have time for this shit. With the lack of sleep and worrying about the dinner tonight, Emma wished August would leave her alone and bug someone else.

"Matter of fact, I did find a new place and should be moving in soon." Emma hated lying but it was her last resort and technically it wasn't a lie. She did find a place and if she played her cards right tonight, Regina would welcome Emma into her home.

August eyes opened a bit wider and he now looked intrigued. She knew he did not buy her half-truth and watching him adjust and move around in the chair, Emma knew an interrogation was coming.

"Oh, really? Right, okay where is this alleged apartment?" August interrogated while cracking his fingers and neck. He was ready for Emma's bullshit. She could not get rid of him so easily.

"The apartment it is not fictional is in the Upper East Side, couple blocks from The Sweet Tooth Factory." Emma noticed the bakery on the cab ride home with Belle.

"Best cronuts in New York. Alright, will you be rooming with anyone?"

"Yes, father. Her name is Regina Mills and she's a lawyer. Saved you the breath." Emma smirked and patted herself on the back for the sass she just delivered.

Still suspicious and not impressed by Emma's previous comment, August's next question tripped Emma a bit. "And rent, how much will you be paying? And will you be contributing to amenities?"

_Shit, think fast Emma._

"I uh-uh, I'm umm, well, the rent situation is tricky." Emma stuttered before August raised his hand to stop her.

"Jesus Emma, for someone with your superpower, you kinda suck at lying."

"Well, I'm sorry but you are the one who put me on the spot. Too bad you aren't this good when actual perps." Emma knew it was a cheap shot but it was all she had.

Shaking his head, August knew Emma was partially joking. "Why'd you feel you had to lie? Why don't you want to live with me?"

"Do you hear yourself? You sound like a needy girl. What's next, you're gonna ask me for a commitment or to settle down?" Emma bluffed, hoping August would get mad and leave her alone.

"For Christ sakes, Emma, just answer the fucking question."

Emma knew August was angry now because he hardly swore, only when someone provoked him, and Emma could see he was provoked.

'Geez, calm down dude. I did not lie to you, well not entirely. I did find a place. It is in the Upper East Side, near the bakery and my roommate would be Regina Mills. But she hasn't actually made an offer yet. I'm expecting for her to ask over dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" August said as if he'd never heard of dinner.

"Yeah, dinner. You know, it's usually eaten after six and before ten. It comes after lunch and should be the last meal of the day."

"Thanks, Emma. I know what it is. But why dinner?"

"If you have to know, I give her an idea for a case she was working on and she wanted to thank me over dinner. Hopefully, I can get several drinks in her and charm her pants off." Emma suddenly regretted her last words because she knew what August would say next.

"You're trying to live with her, not get in her pants or in your case take her pants off." It was August turn to gloat in his brilliant comeback.

Emma was grateful her phone chimed before August continued. Noticing the text from an unknown number, she unlocked her phone and quickly read the message. Unintentionally, Emma smiled when she realized who sent the text.

_Good afternoon, Miss Swan. If your day is going as well as mine, we should have a lot to talk about during dinner. I have a lot of thanking to do tonight. Your useful advice gave me another idea and the case ended a bit early. Hopefully, I can make it up. I booked reservations at my favorite restaurant for 7:00. Does this work for you? _

Emma struggled to think of something clever to respond with. She chuckled a bit when typing her response.

**_I'm sorry, but I don't know who this is._**

Receiving a quick response, Emma smirked when she read the brunette's cheeky answer.

_It's Regina, dear. Do a lot of people call you Miss Swan? And how many dinner dates do you have exactly?_

_**I was busting your balls. And honestly, you are the first person to call me Miss Swan. **_

_You are quite the joker. But is 7 an ideal time for you? _

_**I'm sensing sarcasm and 7 sounds perfect. **_

_Great, well I look forward to it. _

_**Should I meet you there or at your place?**_

_I'll most likely be coming straight from work, so meet me there._

_**I thought you were finished with the case. **_

_I am. But there is still paperwork and several other things to be done. Don't worry I won't stand you up. _

_**Definitely not worried about being stood up. I'm very irresistible ;). **_

_Miss Swan, if I did not know better, I'd say you were flirting with me. _

_**That was not flirting, Regina. That's just the Swan charm. **_

_You are a very cocky person. I'm afraid, I'll have to say goodbye until later._

_**Until later. Oh! Don't forget to send me the address of the restaurant. **_

Emma unaware of her surrounds jumped when she heardAugust clear his throat. Peeling her eyes off the phone, Emma looked up at August. He arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Confused, Emma eyes roamed over the precinct and finally landed back at August.

"What?" she finally decided to ask.

"I don't know, Emma. But when whomever texted you, your cheeks turned red and a smile suddenly appeared."

Emma quickly touched her cheeks and became even redder. Trying to prove his comment did not affect her, Emma put up her wall of defense.

"And your point is?"

"If I wasn't mistaken, I'd say you have a crush."

"Don't be ridiculous. It was just Regina texting me information about our dinner tonight. It's just nice having a friend that isn't filled with testosterone."

"A friend? Aren't you quick to jump to conclusions." August smiled while reaching to take Emma's half eaten bear claw.

Unfortunately for August, Emma had quick reflexes and snatched the sugar filled pastry before he got his hands on it. She took to offense the comment he just made because Emma was warming up to Regina and wanted to call her a friend.

Giving August the finger, she walked to the break room and made herself a next cup of coffee. When she returned to her desk, August was chatting with some red headed bimbo. Checking her phone, Emma saw Regina returned her text. It contained the name and address of the restaurant but also an unexpected surprise.

_I'm looking forward to seeing you in a dress, Miss Swan. _

Emma did not need August to point out blush on her face, Emma already knew.

**_If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me, Regina. _**

She enjoyed teasing the brunette and knew Regina enjoyed reciprocating it.

_Trust me, dear. You haven't seen me flirt yet. ;)_

Emma reread the text about ten times and stared at the winky face for about two minutes, which left her feeling dizzy before finally locking her phone. Seven could not come faster for the blonde.


	4. Chapter 4

Regina typed, read the text, erased it and re-typed it, this continued for a couple minutes before she finally sent it to Emma. She became uneasy after it delivered and saw that the blonde had read it. Regina admitted she was flirting just a bit with her but the blonde did start it and she wanted to give Emma a taste of her own medicine. She hardly texted anyone, mostly Kathryn and her parents, Regina preferred talking than texting. But Gold was like a hawk in the office and if she stepped out to make a personal call, nothing good would come out of the situation.

She locked her phone and caught a glimpse of the time, 1:32. She had a meeting with Gold and the first chair, David Nolan, to discuss the outcome of the case in about thirty minutes. Regina at the moment was suppose to be preparing notes, gathering her thoughts on the case and thinking of other strategies that could have worked. Usually, she would have been on the task giving it every bit of her attention but today was different. Yes, she craved the acceptance and respect of Gold, however Regina was more focused on impressing Emma. The blonde seemed like she had a beautiful personality and would probably make a great roommate but Regina was never a people pleaser. Satisfying others did not appeal to her and she usually impressed them with her intelligence and the manner of which she carried herself. But this case was the complete opposite because Regina actually wanted to win Emma over and she cared about the blonde's impression on her.

Regina's attention shifted when her computer chimed, indicating she had a new email. Clicking the big yellow O on the dock, Regina was surprised when her new email read **From: Killian Jones **and even more surprised with the message.

**Hello Regina, **

**I would like to apologize for my behaviour last night. I was awfully tired and did not expect a phone call, at those hours. But I am forever grateful because the information you collected won me my case and cleared me to work again. I'm forever in your debt and can't even fathom how I can repay you. But a good start would be dinner tonight, just you and me. And I have the perfect place in mind. I'd like to get to know you better and express my gratitude over several glasses of wine. **

**For Now, **

**Killian Jones **

Regina could not contain the laughter that was bubbling inside her and for a brief moment it gained the best of her. Several tears gathered in her eyes and Regina carefully wiped them away not wanting to smudge her eyeliner. She reread the email and thought of the actions to be taken place. Obviously, Killian had more in mind than dinner and drinks but Regina did not have any intentions of going on a date or even sleeping with him. She formulated an email that got straight to the point and left no room for reading between the lines or assumptions.

_Good Afternoon Mr. Jones, _

_I feel honored about your invitation to dinner but I am currently unavailable tonight; other dinner plans. And if we were to have dinner, Mr. Nolan would also have to be our guest. He, in fact, did argue on your benefit for over seven hours and should be thanked, as well. It was his idea to find information about Miss Simmons, which lead me to question you about company parties. Unfortunately, if you wished to have dinner alone I would be violating company policies. I am not allowed to date current or previous clients. But thank you again and think about dinner with Mr. Nolan. _

_Sincerely, _

_Regina Mills _

Checking for grammatical errors, Regina happy with the email pressed the send button and put her computer to sleep. She should have guessed Mr. Jones would have made a move because of the comments he said in court regarding how well her dress outlined Regina's figure. The comments did not bother her; in fact Regina was quite accustomed to men commenting on her beauty or body. Walking down the streets of New York, one gets a few catcalls and several lingering looks. The only time Regina called a guy out on lewd behaviour would be whenever a frisky and courageous fellow tried to touch, grab or even smack her assets and if she felt sexually harassed by his remarks. Which she hated to admit, happened a lot more than she liked.

Realizing her meeting started in less than ten minutes, Regina quickly scribbled a few notes on the yellow legal pad directly in front of her and speed walked to the elevators. It was one of those days she wished Mr. Gold's office was not three floors above her.

Hitting the up arrow button, Regina muttered curse words, as if that would make the elevator arrive faster. She repeatedly assaulted the button of the elevator, knowing if she were even a second late, Gold would have her head. She prayed David would be late, as well, at least she would not have to handle Gold's wrath alone. Pressing the button again, Regina whispered "Shit!" when she realized the meeting started in five minutes.

"I don't think assaulting or even saying means things at the elevator is going to it make come faster." Regina had not heard the voice before but the person behind her sounded British, which peaked her interest because Gold claimed the title of "Foreigner" in the office. Slowly turning around, Regina quickly thought of a smart remark to give the stranger but before she could completely face him, the elevator opened.

Dashing into the elevator, Regina pressed the button for the twelfth floor and inspected the man next to her. He was only a couple inches taller than her, brunette hair cut short, facial hair but he kept it low and clean, he was looking straight ahead but appeared to be deep in thought. Regina tried to catch a glance of his behind, however the stranger changed his body's direction and was now facing her. He smiled softly, at Regina before he finally filled the silence.

"Enjoying the view?" The stranger asked while staring directly into Regina's eyes.

Regina taken back by the bluntness pursed her lips and gave him an honest answer. Two could play this game. "I was before you rudely interrupted and turned around."

The stranger chuckled, while shaking his head and then he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his loose fitting jeans. An image of Emma from last night flashed across Regina's mind when she watched the stranger's action. A faint smile appeared on Regina's face but she drew her attention back to the guy in front of her. She thought an introduction would be appropriate right about now.

"I'm Regina, nice to meet you." Regina offered a hand to man in front of her.

"Likewise, name is Robin." Instead of shaking Regina's hand, Robin placed a delicate kiss on the back of it. Quite shocked by his gesture, she carefully pulled her hand away and located it behind her back.

"Robin? Like Batman's apprentice?" Regina tried to disguise her embarrassment with a corny joke.

"I prefer more like the King of Thieves, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor."

"Ha! He just needed an excuse to clear his conscious and sleep at night." Regina always believed to take actions for your consequences but ironic because most of the people the firm represented were guilt of their accusations.

"Well, I think Robin was a genuinely caring guy and did what he felt was right."

Robin gave her a big smile, waiting for Regina to answer. But before she could the elevator announced its arrival, leaving her with only three minutes until the meeting started. Exiting the elevator, Regina ran quickly to Gold's office leaving Robin a bit awestruck.

After a boring day at the precinct, Emma could not be anymore excited for the night ahead. With only three hours until dinner, she had a lot of preparation and closet searching to be done. Approaching her apartment, Emma noticed the door was cracked open and she heard voices coming from inside. Removing her gun from the holster on her lower back, Emma slowly opened the door and followed the voices in her apartment. Hearing them louder from her roommate's room, Emma walked to the door of the room mentally counted to three and rushed into the room, screaming freeze. The two assailants dropped the objects in their hands and turned towards Emma but only for her to realize it was her roommate and fiancé.

Quickly placing her gun back, Emma dropped her eyes and cringed waiting for Mary Margaret to tell Emma about guns in the house. Both women were the same age but Mary Margaret treated the blonde like her daughter but it stopped bugging Emma after couple months of living with the preppy short-haired woman.

"Emma! You gave me a mini-heart attack. What were you thinking?" Mary Margaret questioned in a motherly tone.

Emma still looking at the floor lowered her eyebrows and gave Mary Margaret a half smile. "Sorry, I thought you guys were robbers. My police instincts kinda kicked in."

Mary Margaret puzzled by Emma's answer, took her eyes off of the blonde and stared at her fiancé before looking back at Emma. "Why would you think that?"

"Well because the door was opened and I heard voices coming from inside."

"And your first conclusion was that someone was robbing the place?" Mary Margaret sometimes did not understand Emma's logic or her reasoning. Both women were complete opposites and at times did not see eye to eye on certain situations or decisions.

"Yeah! Wouldn't it be yours?" Emma's eyes were no longer planted on the floor but she still did not make direct contact with her roommate.

"Of course not, Emma! I'd think it was my roommate moving her things out of the apartment, plus we discussed this early in the week."

Emma had been so preoccupied this week that her conversation with Mary Margaret completely slipped her mind. She called before Emma left for work on Tuesday, telling the blonde she'd be stopping by for the rest of her stuff. Remembering the conversation, Emma felt like an absolute idiot.

"Oh, right that. I forgot, it's a poor excuse for almost killing you but it's the truth."

Mary Margaret was now giving Emma her judgmental and disapproving stare and in that moment, Emma felt horrible for the couple's future kids. But Emma had her own look, which always melted the brunette's heart. Mary Margaret called it Emma's puppy dog eyes but whatever it was had a one hundred percent success rate.

"Ah, come on, Mary Margaret. Forgive me?" Emma said whilst using her puppy dog eyes.

Emma could see Mary Margaret slowly beginning to soften up and not to long afterwards a smile made an appearance. A one hundred percent success rate.

Saying hello to David and giving Mary Margaret a hug, Emma left the room to prepare for her 'date' tonight. Making a mental list, Emma knew she a lot had to be done before she even looked decent. First thing was to find something, a dress, to wear. Opening her closet, Emma pushed all her clothes to one side because all her dresses were at the back of the closet. They were not many occasions, where a dress would be required and right now Emma secretly wished she went out more often. The first dress she passed was a long strapless dress, which Emma wore to a ball the Mayor held and her entire precinct was invited. That wouldn't work for dinner. The second option was a red, skintight dress Emma bought for an undercover operation and it looked decent enough for dinner. Emma removed it from the closet and laid it on her bed, giving it a once over before she hopped in the shower.

Twenty minutes and two shaved legs later, Emma entered her room to be surprised by Mary Margaret ransacking her closet. Pretending to clear her voice, she coughed and waited for her soon to be previous roommate to acknowledge her presence.

"Hey, Emma. I'm just looking for that blue cardigan you borrowed couple months ago." The brunette then resumed her previous actions and continued the search for the missing cardigan.

Emma shook her head because Mary Margaret knew she never borrowed clothing from her and the brunette was currently wearing the blue cardigan. Securing her towel, Emma walked over to the closet and put one hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder. Gently squeezing it, Emma pulled her away from the closet and guided Mary Margaret to the bed. She knew the short-haired woman would miss the blonde, Emma would also miss living with her. Mary Margaret looked directly into Emma's eyes and then rested her head on her partially wet shoulder. They often would do this, neither talking for a while, both comfortable in the silence and each other's presence.

"You are wearing the cardigan." Emma whispered, trying to cherish the moment.

Mary Margaret confused, looked down and saw what Emma was talking about. She smiled for a bit before pulling the blonde into a hug. After a couple seconds, both released because of Emma's current condition.

"Where are you heading out, young lady?" Now back in mother mode.

"Dinner with a prospective new roommate."

"Oh, that sounds nice. What are you wearing?"

Emma rolled her eyes because she knew Mary Margaret always questioned her sense of style and fashion. Pointing to the dress behind her, Emma removed herself from the room and plugged in her hair dryer to start getting ready. She waited patiently for Mary Margaret to follow her to the bathroom and comment on the dress.

"Emma, sweetie, do you really think that dress is appropriate for dinner?" She was leaning against the doorframe, watching Emma untangle her hair.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Well what else do you plan on wearing with it? Are you gonna wear heels, what about a coat?"

Emma stared at Mary Margaret before turning on the hair dryer tuning out the motherly woman. She could faintly hear Mary Margaret screaming her name but ignored her and focused on her hair. But apparently the pixie haired woman did not get the message because while Emma was running the brush through her hair, Mary Margaret unplugged the dryer from socket.

"What the hell?" A distraught Emma yelled.

"Watch your tone, young lady." Emma rolled her eyes because they were the same freaking age. There were times, when Mary Margaret was a bit overwhelming and this would be that time.

"Emma, let me help you. This is probably the last time you'll see me before I'm in a big puffy white dress. I'll find something better for you to wear, do your hair and even put some make up on you. We never got to do this!"

"Fine, fine whatever. But the reservations are at seven, so be quick." Emma mumbled through her teeth. She knew she'd end up regretting the decision later.

"Quick is my middle name! Let me tell David I'll be busy. It'll be so much fun, trust me!"

Emma already regretted it.

**Two Hours Later**

"Reservations for Regina Mills?"

"Miss Mills, it's a pleasure seeing you again. Would you like your regular table?" The maître d, a young red head with brown highlights greeted Regina with enthusiasm.

"That would be lovely, dear. Has my guest arrived yet?"

"No, but she left you a message. Let me get it for you."

Regina watched as the girl opened a small notebook and pull a folded piece of paper from the front of it. She wondered why Emma did not call her or even send a text? Was Emma cancelling on their date or maybe she changed her mind about the apartment? Regina felt a sensation of nervousness coming over her but quickly snapped out of it, she shouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions.

"Follow me, please," the maître d signaling Regina to walk with her.

Regina's favourite table was located on the second floor of the restaurant; she personally thought the décor more elegant than the first floor's and it was far from the kitchen. The maître d's stand, only a couple feet from the stairs, Regina followed the red head, even though she knew her way around. Tonight, a live band played in the middle of the room, all of the musicians in black suits and the singer, female, wearing a long, black, shimmering dress.

The table was placed against the banister of the stairs, giving them a bird's eye view of the first floor but a full view of the entire second floor. The red head drew Regina's chair out and handed her the wine menu, after she was seated.

"Your server tonight will be Jenna. Enjoy your meal." The maître d smiled, while signaling something to someone by the bar, situated at the front of the room.

"Thank you, Amy." Regina stated with a small smile.

Giving her a nod, Amy made her way back downstairs, tending to other customers. After she left, Regina hastily opened the message Emma left for her and sighed a sigh of relief when she read the letter. Now smiling, Regina sent the blonde a quick text, thanking her for the politeness and generosity. And she was basically all teeth when Emma responded.

**_Thank you for the message and suggesting I order without you. But I prefer to wait; maybe I'll get a drink. _**

_I told you, I'm very charming and don't get drunk without me. :) _

_**Very funny, Miss Swan. **_

Jenna, her waitress, came over seconds later and asked Regina if she'd like to order. Only ordering a glass of Chardonnay, Regina told Jenna about the second party and asked for her to come back when Emma arrived. Listening to the band play a jazz version of "I Am Woman", Regina thought of the numerous occasions Kathryn dragged her to this restaurant for a girls' night. Most women would consider a girls' night to be filled with bar hopping, clubs, appletinis and a night of regrets, which Kathryn always begged for them to do. But she knew Regina and a sophisticated night out appealed to her more than a club filled with sweaty people grinding on each other. She hadn't heard from Kathryn for several weeks and Regina started to worry about her friend. Not the type of worry where she thought someone killed Kathryn, but she worried that Kathryn was digging herself too deep into her work. Regina knew once Kathryn became too engulfed in work or even in a boyfriend, her best friend might crack under pressure and have a mini mental breakdown. She made a mental note to check in on Kathryn tomorrow after work.

"Regina?" A familiar voice addressed the brunette.

Averting her eyes from the band, Regina shifted her attention to the person who called her name. She was rather surprised, when the voice that spoke belonged to a certain Emma Swan. The blonde looked absolutely stunning and Regina hated to admit it but she took Regina's breath away.

"Emma…" Regina managed to mutter the name out of her mouth. The blonde was wearing a black leather dress that stopped half way on her thighs with black tights, which were a different shade than her dress and black suede stiletto platform heels. And the outfit was topped with a bright red coat. Emma went with simple, delicate waves that cascaded down her back and Regina noticed the blonde was also wearing makeup. Nothing too heavy but her eyelashes appeared thicker and darker than when Regina saw her last night and her eyes done cat eye style. She wore a hint of blush and her lips a soft pink. Regina had no idea Emma could or would clean up this well.

Emma noticed how flustered the brunette became and thanked Mary Margaret for the countless amount of time she spent on Emma. Who knows what might have happened if she wore her red dress?

Giving Regina a small smile, Emma decided to remove the tension and awkwardness from the air. "So a dress is what it takes for you to call me by my first name, huh?"

Regina, still a bit in her daze smirked at the blonde and replied with a cheeky comment. "Well then aren't you glad I suggested it, _Miss Swan._"

She purposefully stressed and lowered her voice once she reached the last two words. Regina refused to give the blonde an upper hand, in the conversation tonight. It would Emma's turn to be flustered and nervous.

Shifting uncomfortable after the brunette seductively whispered her name, Emma cleared her throat and stared directly at the woman. _Game on. _

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There will be something between Regina and Robin BUT don't worry because it won't last forever and I have big plans for how it will affect Emma and Regina's relationship. The story is still about SwanQueen. Next chapter, obviously, will be the 'date' and I wanted that to be completely separate and give it a lot of attention. The song the band is playing "I Am Woman" has about three different versions, The Supremes, Helen Reddy and Irene Diaz (my personal favourite). If you guys would like to see any characters or have ideas for future chapters, please don't be shy! I'm open to anything. Don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait, guys! But here it is and I had so much fun writing and I hope you guys like it too. Don't forget to review, loves and have you guys listened to Ed Sheeran's new album? It's amazing!**

At the moment, both women were in a staring competition, no one talking, just studying each other's features without blinking or even taking their eyes off the other woman's face. Emma had a lot of confidence she would win this game because of the numerous hours spent in interrogation, with perps who refused to talk and only stared at her, trying to intimidate the young blonde but she didn't and couldn't scare that easily. Emma tried not to use the interrogation glare at Regina and gave her more of a softened stare, to show her intentions were not to frighten the brunette. Regina seemed to notice because a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth but she still tried to appear a bit intimidating; perfect posture, several fingers holding her chin up and her eyes had a certain look, a look in which Emma could not place her fingers on. Neither women wanted to be the first to blink, both being sore losers and not wanting to damage their pride. Thankfully, their waitress, Jenna, hopped on over before tears came streaming out of Emma's eyes.

"Miss Mills, I'm assuming this is your second party." Jenna's remark surprised both women of out their trance and eyes were now on her.

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't quite catch what you said," responded a light-headed Regina, even though she barely touched the glass of wine.

Repeating a version of her previous statement, the waitress responded, "Your guest, I'm assuming it's her," motioning in Emma's direction.

"You are correct. This is Emma." The smile that was previously sneaking on to Regina's face made a full appearance when she introduced the waitress to Emma.

Emma chuckled a bit and spoke directly at the waitress, as if she were the only at the table. "You see, usually Miss Mills here, refers to me as Miss Swan but since I kinda blew her away with how hot I look in this dress, I guess Miss Swan is no longer in her vocabulary." She delivered her cocky statement, in a low whisper, forcing the waitress to lean in a bit closer. Jenna ate up everything Emma said, and even giggled, when she mentioned the reason behind the name change. Regina felt a pinch of jealousy but the feeling left, as fast as it arrived, and even though the blonde spoke quietly, she heard every word out of Emma's mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Regina faked a cough pulling the waitress away and back to her actual job. Glancing at the brunette and taking into account her facial expressions, Emma realized Regina's mood quickly changed and thought it was something she said. In attempt to relieve the tension, Emma decided to ask Regina for advice on her dinner selection.

"So Regina, what do you recommend for dinner tonight?" inquired a slightly confused Emma. She had no idea, what changed Regina's mood but she hoped it would quickly return.

"I don't know, Miss Swan. Everything's good. But I'm sure Jenna here is more qualified than I am about the food."

Emma taken by surprised with the name change and her snappy comment, scanned the menu over and decided the duck roasted with ten different herbs sounded good enough.

"And to drink, Miss Swan?" asked the waitress.

"Umm… a scotch on the rocks, please."

Regina removed her eyes from the menu when she heard Emma's drink order because she did not take Emma for a scotch, kind of girl. Getting her usual, Regina placed her order, leaving an awkward silence between the two when the waitress left. Emma determined to understand Regina's change in mood, broke the silence and not in a pleasant way, either.

"What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Regina knew exactly what Emma was referring to but she played dumb before she gave herself away.

"Oh, I think you what I'm talking about. All of a sudden, you start calling me, Miss Swan, and when I ask for your recommendation, you coldly rejected me." Emma hated that she sounded so whiny but the blonde thought she was getting along quite well with Regina and then suddenly a wall occurred.

Emma didn't give Regina a second to respond before she began her talking again. "Was it something I said? I was completely joking when I mentioned you being flabbergasted by my dress, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It just something…."

Emma stopped talking because it suddenly hit her; she realized the real reason behind Regina's cold wall and gave the brunette, a big, goofy, smile.

"What's with the smile, Miss Swan?" It was Regina's turn to question Emma's change in mood.

"Why what ever do you mean?" The blonde asked with a very dramatic tone of voice.

"You stopped halfway through your sentence and started to smile like a complete idiot. And now you're leaning back against your chair, like you have a delicious secret. Spill," demanded a frustrated Regina.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Emma moved her chair closer to the table and brought her face a couple inches closer to Regina's but not invading her personal face. "I know exactly, why your mood changed so drastically."

"Miss Swan, please enlighten the class," replying sarcastically to Emma's statement.

"You were jealous." Emma smirked when the brunette quickly pulled away and tried to compose her facial expressions. She knew she hit the jackpot.

Astonished by Emma's eye for detail, Regina decided not deny or agree with the blonde's statement. "Oh, and what makes you so sure?" If Emma thought Regina would break so easily, she'd have to think again.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because everything was going smoothly until I had that very close encounter with, uh what's her name, right, Jenna. Then, you started calling me by my last name, which I assume you only do when you're not feeling too friendly towards a person. And that subtle mean comment you made when I asked for a recommendation on dinner. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure you are jealous."

"Alright, Miss Swan. You can stop with the gloating, it doesn't look well on you."

Laughing out loud, Emma scanned Regina's face for the smallest hint of jealousy, anything that could possibly help her case. Finding nothing, Emma asked the brunette a question that bugged for the past several minutes.

"But what I don't understand is why?"

The question caught Regina off guard; she thought Emma would have dropped the issue and dinner could resume normally. She knew the blonde would know if she were lying and decided to tell Emma the truth. How much damage could she cause, right?

"I invited you to dinner, Emma. I wanted to spend time learning things about you, hearing about your day at work, and thanking you for your insight on the case. I didn't expect for you to be flirting with our waitress and she, obviously, appreciated the attention. It's a stupid reason to have been hostile towards you but I'm a bit protective." Regina stated with a bit of worry on her voice. She didn't want to give Emma the wrong impression but the blonde could just be the kind of change her life needed. And coming off as the jealous roommate might have possibly scared Emma away.

Regina took notice to how quiet the other woman became. "Emma, please say something. It's getting quite awkward."

Emma felt tears whelming up and she wished Regina hadn't said all those sweet and amazing things. No one ever felt or no one ever told her they were jealous over her, or took any interests into her life. Mary Margaret not being the biggest fan of Emma's profession cared to know little about all the criminals she'd lock up. The boys, August and Neal, worked with her every day and she had no other real friends besides those two and the pixie haired woman. Having someone express genuine interest in Emma's life was a very rare moment and something she never thought would happen to her.

"Emma, dear, are you okay? Was it something I said?" Regina saw the glassy look in Emma's eyes and worried she upset the blonde.

"Yeah, it was something you said." Taking a deep breathe before continuing her thought. "I just —–– I'm not use to people expressing interest in my personal life and hearing you say those things. Well, I don't know, it was really sweet and I guess it made me a bit emotional."

Feeling a sense of relief wash over her, Regina lips spread into a smile, she expected for it to be a couple months until she saw Emma this vulnerable. "This may not make the tears go away but I meant every word of what I said. I'd love to hear about your day."

"Yeah, you are right, it did not help. But my day was a drag, I'd hate to ruin dinner and your victory with those details." Emma stated while wiping her eyes with the napkin located on her lap.

"No, Miss Swan, I insist. Tell me about the fabulous life of a police detective."

"Are we really back to calling me that? I thought the little green eyed monster left the room." The blonde was now feeling like herself again.

"You are quite the jokester, aren't you? But I'll probably be calling you by both names, it's something I find difficult to control."

"Huh, right, okay, at least you know both of my names. Do you actually wanna hear about my day? I appreciate you caring and all but my day was complete shit." After Emma muttered the little swear word, she noticed a look of pain upon Regina's face and called attention to it.

"You're kidding me, right? Don't tell me you take offense to swearing?"

"It's not that. Well, it kind of is. I just don't understand a person's need to use such language. It doesn't prove a point or help the situation, so why use it at all?"

"Oh, so you're telling me that you don't swear, like ever?" Regina now had Emma's complete attention because this was something new for the blonde.

"I never said that. Did I, Miss Swan?" Regina replied.

"So do you? Do you swear, Miss Mills?" Emma knew Regina was playfully mocking her and thought she could as well.

Regina arched one of her eyebrows and figured the blonde to be playing along with the little charade. "I think you should stick with Regina, it suits you better."

"You still haven't answered the question, _Miss Mills_."

Regina muttered, "I guess not," before answering Emma's question, "Occasionally, I do say a word or two but not on an everyday bases. I mostly use them when I'm upset or aggravated, which thankfully isn't often."

"Okay, fair enough. I'll try my best not to use such foul language around you. But like your name issue, it's something I find difficult to control."

"I'd hardly call it an issue. I rather refer to someone by their last name than first. It's a personal preference."

Emma sipped on her scotch, even though she couldn't remember when Jenna brought the glass over. She was quite impressed by texture and taste and how it all went down smoothly, Emma contemplated about a round two.

"So, are you ever going to tell me about your boring day or continue to make googly eyes at your drink?" Regina pondered when she noticed how fascinated the other woman became with her drink.

"Its very good scotch but I'm on a date with you, so. My day, you wanna hear about work, well there isn't much to tell. No bad guys to catch or at least no crimes reported in Manhattan, so I was stuck to my desk doing paper work, which I hate." Emma sighed, mostly because it bored her talking about how boring work was.

"And?" Regina insisted there had to be more than paperwork to Emma's day.

"And what?"

"Besides work, what else occurred or perhaps something exciting happened? There has to be more to your day than just paperwork."

Emma sighed because she never felt comfortable talking about herself; it wasn't something she did too well. "After work, I headed straight home and uh-well, oh!" She suddenly remembered her awkward and touching visit from Mary Margaret. "My roommate stopped by for the rest of her stuff but I thought someone was robbing the place, so I barged into her room with gun pointed at both her and her fiancé, screaming freeze."

Regina could not help but laugh at the blonde's previous predicament. Judging by the death stare Emma was given her, the blonde did not find her story funny.

"I'm sorry, dear. You're right, it was not funny, at all. But I'm assuming your roommate forgave you, right?"

Nodding her yes, Emma softened her eyes and continued. "Eventually, it took several attempts. She's the one responsible for taking your breath away."

"Oh, and here I thought you had fashion senses. Did you have another dress in mind before your fairy godmother helped?

"As a matter of fact, I did. A simple, sleeveless, red dress, which I think could have still worked." Emma sighed, thinking about to the two hours she spent with Mary Margaret.

"Why did your roommate deem the dress inappropriate?" asked Regina.

"In her opinion, it was a bit too much but not like in a fancy way. She thought my assets were being outlined and showcased too much for a dinner with a perspective new roommate."

"What is your fascination with tight clothing, Miss Swan?" Regina tried to hide the fact, she was thinking about Emma in that red dress.

"You know the saying, 'If you have it flaunt it', and well I think I have it." Emma replied with a cocky smile spread across her face.

"You are quite full of yourself, Miss Swan. Do you know that?"

"I wouldn't call it that but maybe, I'm just a really confident person."

"Whatever floats your boat, dear," Regina laughed before seeing Jenna arriving with their food, "I hope you're hungry because that duck looks awfully big."

Turning around to locate their waitress, Emma's eyes became a bit wider when she noticed the largeness of the dish. Whispering to Regina, Emma commented on the size of the duck, "I'm not sure that's even duck, perhaps a mini chicken but not duck. That thing is huge!"

Glancing at the duck once again, Regina shook her head and gave Emma a sympathetic look. "You can still have dessert, even if you aren't finish with your steroid filled duck."

Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, Emma mumbled, "It's not funny."

Regina's heart fluttered, when she realized how childish the detective sitting across from her could be and it took every inch of will power not to comment. Some things were better left unsaid or to be brought up later.

"Here's your ratatouille, Miss Mills, and your duck, Miss Swan." Jenna remarked while giving both women their dishes. When she rested Emma's duck on the table, Jenna gave the blonde a small smile; she might've missed, if she weren't pouting so much.

"Thank you, Jenna. Your services are no longer needed." Regina hissed at the waitress.

Emma returned her attention to the brunette, with a smirk replacing the pout she previously wore. Jealousy, obviously, was a strong suit of Regina's and Emma hated to admit it but it looked well on her. However, Emma still knew nothing about the apartment and she figured it should be discussed before dessert.

"So, Regina, tell me about the apartment." The blonde awkwardly asked.

Regina partially looked up from her meal and smiled at Emma. "And what would you like to know, dear?"

"Okay, uh-uh, how long have you lived there?"

"About five years now." Regina rested her fork against the plate and gave Emma her full attention.

"That's a very long time. How long is your lease?" The blonde was quite surprised by the amount of time Regina stayed in one place.

"Actually, my mother bought the place, when I was in law school. And I've lived there with my best friend, Kathryn."

Emma a bit confused about her living situation asked, "So, if I were to live with you, what would I be paying for?"

"Jumping to conclusions, are we, Miss Swan?" Regina voice sounded deeper and more sensual than Emma would have like it.

"No, no I'm not. I said the key word, if," Emma stumbled over her words a bit.

"Well, if you were to live with me, you would contribute to groceries, electricity, water and the yearly maintenance fee."

An overly excited and happy Emma grinned until her cheeks hurt and beamed at Regina. "That's such a sweet deal! Wow, that's awesome!"

The brunette laughed heartedly and watched the child-like blonde revel in her glee. Who would have thought someone with such a hard-core job could resemble a five year old. She thought about sharing the good news about the apartment with Emma, Regina figured since she received no inquiries about the apartment, and she clicked well with Emma, that the apartment should go to her.

"Miss Swan?"

"Yes." Emma simply answered.

"Are done marveling in the excitement of the 'sweet deal'," inquired Regina

Embarrassed, Emma awkwardly laughed and replied, "I wasn't marveling. But yes, I'm done."

Regina rolled her eyes and sighed before delivering the hopefully, good news, "Promise not to freak out?"

Emma smiled because she had a slight clue of where the conversation was going, "Yeah no, I promise. I swear."

"Please, wipe that smile off your face. You look like a complete idiot." Regina did not mean anything she said but didn't want to reveal her happiness to the other woman.

"Don't be a meanie. Anyways, what were you going to tell me?"

"To be honest, you were the only person to show interest in the apartment. It's been 'on the market' for about two months and all I want is someone to fill the empty room in the apartment. You seem sane enough and have a steady income, so…."

Regina was interrupted by an over zealous Emma and the blonde finished the woman's thought before it came out her mouth. "So, you want me to move in with you? Well, it took you long enough."

Regina bit her bottom lip and look down at her ratatouille before answering Emma's hasty question. "Yes, yes, Miss Swan. It would be my pleasure, to have you as my roommate." She extended her hand over the table and waited for the blonde to take it.

Emma glanced down at the hand in front of her, and then back at Regina before softly scolding the gesture. "Are you serious, right now?"

Dazed by Emma's question, Regina raised one of her eyebrows but didn't say anything and waited for Emma to explain herself. Getting the message, Emma answered her own question. "We're gonna be living with each other, for God knows how long. And you want to shake on it, honestly, Regina?"

Pulling her hand back, Regina inquired, "Do you have a better idea, Miss Swan?"

"Yes, I actually do. How about we drink on it then hug?" Emma asked innocently.

"Drink on it and hug? What are we teenagers?"

Completely ignoring the brunette, Emma raised her glass and waited for Regina to realize that she was serious. After several seconds of Emma waiting, Regina picked up her wine glass and gave the blonde a half smile. Smiling back, Emma delivered her speech, "Here's to new memories, new friendships and a new glass of wine and scotch. Cheers!"

Regina rolled her eyes before both women clinked glasses and took a large sip of their drinks. "We aren't actually doing that hug, right?" Regina knew the answer but prayed Emma had a sudden change of heart.

Emma gave her one short answer, "Nope!"

Rising from her chair, Emma pushed it out and smooth her dress before stretching her arms out towards Regina. The brunette scanned the restaurant, hoping no one noticed the ridiculous scene Emma was causing. Few patrons were paying attention and the blonde seemed focused on giving Regina a hug. Removing herself from the chair, Regina slowly walked towards the blonde, uneasy about having physical contact with Emma. The brunette inched closer to Emma, and saw that smug smile on the blonde's face before enclosing the hug.

At first, the hug was awkward but both slowly eased into it. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist and Emma's around the brunette's neck. The blonde inhaled the scent of the older woman; Regina smelt faintly like apples but it was overwhelmed with the woman's lavender shampoo. Emma was only two inches taller with her heels, which had Regina's face filled with blonde hair. She recognized the blonde smelt like vanilla and hugged her a bit tighter. Both women realized how natural and comfortable they felt in each other's arms, as if they were meant to be there. It was a perfect fit and neither wanted to let go.

Both women quickly pulled apart when they heard, "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Regina and Emma blushed and stuttered like two teens caught in the act before Regina spoke for both of them.

"Not at all, dear. May we have the dessert menu, please?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, little motivation to write. But I wanted to give you guys an update before Tuesday. If you guys have special requests or ideas for future chapters, please don't be shy. Reviews are welcomed! I love your thoughts and opinions. **

It had been four hours since the dinner date between Emma and Regina; a date filled with awkwardness, laughter, jealousy and a bit too much alcohol. The blonde thought she would be completely exhausted when the night was over but Emma currently lay on her back wide awake in bed, her thoughts running wild, mostly thinking about the hug. It wasn't like Emma never hugged someone before but there was something different about the way both women eased into each other's arms and any previous tension or feelings of being uncomfortable, slowly went away. She felt when Regina pulled her in tighter and choose not to make a smart remark because Emma truly enjoyed being in the brunette's arms. The blonde frequently exchanged hugs with Mary Margaret, August, Neal and other acquaintances, it was her form of hand shakes, that's why she was rather offended when Regina wanted to seal the deal with a shake. She gave herself a mental high five for suggesting the hug because it was the best one she had ever received.

The hug slowly drifting from her thoughts, Emma's mind wandered on to packing. Emma had no idea what to bring, sell, or leave in her storage unit. She figured her furniture would move to the unit, until further notice and only bring the items in her bedroom and bathroom. Emma had several non-bedroom/bathroom things that she couldn't imagine leaving behind and decided to think more on the subject, when her mind wasn't foggy with alcohol and sleep. Shifting to her side, Emma brought the covers closer to her face, snuggling into the comfort and warmth of her comforter. The heat in the apartment wouldn't kick in until more than ten residents complained about the lack of it. That usually happened when temperatures dropped to the mid 50's and noses started to run. The blonde's emerald green eyes wandered to the bedside clock, realizing it was only 11:36. The lateness did not bother Emma because the detective had the day off but she was hoping to catch more than five hours of sleep, before her meeting with the super.

She finally closed her eyes, praying sleep would be around the corner but after fifteen minutes of restlessness, Emma returned to her previous state. Staring at the ceiling, her thoughts travelled to the bedroom of Regina. She wondered if the brunette was having the same restless issue as her. Emma contemplated sending a thank you or a goodnight text but quickly rejected the idea, fearing it would send the wrong message or wake the other woman. The blonde dragged herself out of bed and made her way towards the living room, bringing a blanket and her phone, in case one of the boys called about a murder. She plumped down on the couch and turning on the television, flipping aimlessly through the channels. The blonde knew nothing decent was on but it beat staring at the ceiling, in her room. Emma switched on the DVR, hoping MM recorded some shows, when a sudden smile light up her face when she noticed her previous roommate set the DVR to record the last two episodes of "Bates Motel". Even though Mary Margaret hated horror, crime or anything a bit scary, she frequently joined Emma on Monday nights to watch the twisted life of Norman Bates. The pixie-haired woman claimed it was because she had nothing better to do with her time but Emma knew the woman secretly enjoyed the show.

Before settling in, the blonde skipped off to the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot cocoa. It was a weakness of hers and she had about three cups a week, and if it were the winter the number increased to five. Popping the milk in the microwave, Emma sat on the counter tapping her fingers patiently waiting for the timer to go off. She hummed a soft tune, and she tried to think of where the song sounded familiar. Drifting her attention to the microwave, the clock indicated it only had 30 seconds left; Emma headed over to the fridge grabbing the whip cream and the cinnamon from the cupboard. The microwave started beeping, meaning her milk was ready and simultaneously the blonde's phone chimed, indicating she received a new text. Emma ignored the message because the boys usually called if something important happened and went back to preparing the cocoa.

The blonde walked carefully to the couch, in hopes of not spilling anything and rested the mug on the coffee table before curling into a ball with her blanket. Slowly sipping on the cocoa, Emma closed her eyes and allowed herself to be engulfed in the smell and taste of the hot beverage. The blonde never understood the love she had for the drink but it always managed to cheer her up. Clicking play on the remote, Emma relaxed and eased herself into the world of Norma and Norman Bates. About five minutes into the episode, Emma recalled the text she received whilst making her cup of happiness. She pressed pause, not wanting to miss anything, and unlocked her phone to read the new message. Emma's eyes quickly lit up, when she read the name of the sender, _Regina. _

**_You'll probably be reading this in the morning but thank you for such a wonderful night. I truly enjoyed myself and I hope you did, too. Have a good night's rest, dear. _**

The blonde couldn't help but smile while reading the adorable message Regina left her and Emma thought of sending the brunette a quick reply but a better idea came to mind. She quickly pressed Regina's number and waited patiently for the brunette's voicemail to answer the late night call. Instead of Regina waking to Emma's text, the blonde thought of having the other woman hear Emma's voice thanking her, a sweet, innocent, and grateful gesture for the good night text. Emma was taken by surprised when she heard Regina's low, husky voice answer the phone instead of a recording of the woman's voice.

**_"_**Miss Swan?"Answered a tired but not a woman who was sleeping.

Emma muttered "Shit," before replying to Regina. "I'm so sorry, Regina. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

On the other end, Regina shifted a bit more upwards and moved the book on her lap to her side before addressing the blonde. "Is there a reason for this late night call?"

Face palming herself for not thinking the plan through, Emma answered, "Okay, in my defense, I thought you'd be knocked out by now and wouldn't hear the phone ring—"

"Miss Swan, your point is?" Regina huffed out. She wasn't upset about the blonde's sudden phone call but aggravated that she could not fall asleep, after the long day she had.

"I was going to leave you a voicemail, thanking you for your incredibly cute text and not trying to wake you or disturb your sleep."

Regina thanked her lucky stars that Emma could not see her current state, because the brunette had the biggest smile on her face and she could feel the heat creeping on her face. "That was very thoughtful of you, dear. And you did not wake me, I was already up."

"Oh? Trouble sleeping?" Emma quietly asked, a habit that formed because of the numerous times she waked MM, when the boys called late night about a case.

"Yes, and then some. It's been a long day, I thought sleep would come easy, tonight."

"Have you tried a warm glass of milk?" Emma playfully inquired.

Regina laughed softly, amazed at the playfulness of the blonde, at such hours of the night. "I'm not a child, Miss Swan. A glass of milk would not be very helpful, in my case."

"Hey, I was just trying to help. But what are you doing for your insomnia?"

"I was reading one of my old law textbooks, in attempt to bore myself to sleep."

"But I'm guessing that's not working?" Emma removed herself from the couch and walked back to her room with the cup of hot cocoa.

Regina smiled, a bit thankful for the blonde's sudden call, and answered the other woman's inquiry, "You would be correct. I've run out of options but more importantly, why are you awake, Miss Swan?"

Emma put Regina on speakerphone, while she made herself comfortable in bed, "Same as you, can't sleep. Maybe they slipped something into our drinks." Emma added seriously.

Regina rolled her eyes before responding to the blonde's statement, "I hardly doubt that, dear. In fact, I think they'd slip something completely different in your drink."

Confused, Emma asked, "What does that mean?"

Before Regina said anything stupid, she quickly changed the subject, muttering softly "Nothing," before she continued, "When do expect you'll be moving in?"

"Regina, you can't do that. You just can't bring something up and then when I ask you about it, ignore me."

"Miss Swan, I'm tired and idiotic things happen when a person is tired. I don't even know what I meant by my comment. Will you please, let it go?" Regina quietly said while lying through her teeth.

Emma was aware that Regina had just lied to her but choose to ignore it before they got into their first argument. "Whatever, forget I said anything." The blonde mumbled and took a long sip of her hot beverage, leaving an awkward silence on both ends of the lines.

Regina waited for the blonde to end the silence, this was one of her weaknesses, communicating or knowing when she upset someone. She heard the other woman take a sip of something and wondered Emma could be drinking, at this hour and it did not sound like a typical sip of water.

"In about a week or two." Emma finally answered Regina's question about moving in. She was still a bit upset with the brunette but did not want to end their conversation, either.

Taken back and puzzled by Emma's comment, Regina carefully responded, "I'm not sure what you mean by that, dear."

"I'll be moving in, in about a week or two. If that's okay with you?"

"It's perfectly fine, dear. Whenever you know the exact date, please let me know."

"Mmm, yeah, sure." Emma released a loud yawn that surprised both herself and Regina. Sleep, slowly crept up on her and she was embarrassed with her lack of manners. The blonde quickly apologized, "I am so sorry, Regina. That was a bit unexpected and kinda rude."

Regina chuckled softly, and she enjoyed hearing Emma so vulnerable, the age on the blonde's voice decreased when sleep took over and she sound like a little kid. "No need for apologizes, dear. It is quite late, I should let you rest."

With a sudden jolt of energy, Emma responded, "No!" realizing what she said Emma stuttered over her words before she managed to mutter out a coherent sentence. "Umm, I mean, you don't have to go, if you don't want to. Your presence is actually quite soothing." The blonde quickly quieted herself before she said anything to further embarrass herself.

Not knowing how to react to such a comment, Regina sighed to herself before responding; it would be a decision she might later regret "That's very nice of you, dear. I could stay on for a bit longer but I do have work in the morning."

Emma smiled a bit and asked a question that was not relevant to the current conversation, "Why do you call people dear?"

"Go to sleep, Miss Swan."

"Please, just answer my question." Emma whined.

Regina lowered herself on the bed and rested her head gently on the pillow. She closed her eyes for two seconds before giving into the five year old on the other end. "It's a habit, I picked up from my mother. I've never really noticed it, until couple years back. Does that satisfy your curiosity, Miss Swan?"

Half asleep, Emma mumbled back, "Mmhmm…"

The brunette rolled her eyes and put the blonde on speakerphone, placed the phone on the pillow next to her. She suddenly felt a wave of sleep come over her but before she allowed it to win, Regina muttered one last thing to the blonde on the other end. "Goodnight, Emma"

**6:30a.m The Next Day**

Awaken by the noise of an alarm clock, Emma rolled over and hit snooze on the clock but the noise failed to stop. Grumbling, the blonde eased herself to the edge of the bed and unplugged the clock, however, the incessant noise kept buzzing. Emma rubbed her eyes, and decided to check the time on her phone, when she hit the unlock button the blonde noticed Regina was still on the other end. Emma wondered, how long they stayed up talking and if they both fell asleep together.

Whispering, Emma called out to the brunette, "Regina? Regina, are you awake?" Hearing the other woman shuffling around and moaning, probably stretching, Emma called out to Regina a bit louder, again. "Wakie, wakie, eggs and bakie, sleepy head."

"I'm awake, Miss Swan but thank you for your wake up call." Regina's voice was low, obvious she had just woke up, and there were several cracks when talked. She'd heard Emma the first time, but Regina enjoyed the sound of Emma's morning voice and wanted the blonde to repeat herself. She could get use to hearing it every morning. Quickly erasing the thought from her head, Regina stopped her alarm clock and removed her phone from the pillow, heading straight to the bathroom.

"But really, dear, wakie, wakie, eggs and bakie? Is that your usual wake up call?"

Emma sighed, and pulled the covers of her face, hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep before her meeting. "Why are you up so early? It's like three in the morning."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is 6:30. But to answer your question, I like rising early, things are a bit different earlier in the morning." Regina turned on the shower and set it to the perfect temperature, before adding quietly, "Plus, it takes awhile to get ready in the morning. Unlike Beyoncé, I did not wake up flawless. "

Emma smiled, "Ah, and here I thought you woke up that beautiful." Her eyes widen a bit and slapped a hand over her mouth but it was too late, the words had already escaped. _This is why you shouldn't talk to anyone before your morning coffee. _

Regina knew she heard correctly but she did not want to make the situation any more uncomfortable than it already was for the blonde. She quickly thought of an excuse to end the conversation but Emma beat her to the punch.

"I, uh, I should head out. I've got the day off and could really use the sleep. I'll talk to you later."

Surprisingly, Regina felt sad with the blonde leaving their conversation but accepted the end of it. "I think that would be best."

Emma frustrated because of the simplicity of Regina's response, however, she put it behind her and bid a farewell that would leave the brunette blushing. "It was sweet of you to stay up with me last night. And for what it is worth, Beyoncé has nothing on you."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: How are you guys summer going? I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am. I have a few things to tell you guys. First thing, on Saturday I travel back to my school to practice/prepare for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Our school's theatre was selected to perform our winter musical, this summer. So from this Saturday until August 12, I'll be completely busy with that and then in Edinburgh with the musical. I'm not sure, if I'll have any free time to write but I'll do my best, I promise! Second thing, this chapter is all about Emma, as you'll find out. But I had so much fun writing it and I hope you have like it! And lastly, the bridal shop mentioned in this chapter, is an actual place in New York, but it's called Bridal Selection, and it's the same address and everything. The dress is an actual dress in the shop, as well, I saw it when doing a virtual tour of the shop on google maps. Just thought you should know. Questions, comments, ideas or reviews are always welcomed. Enjoy, dearies!**

Emma woke up to the sound of construction coming from outside her window, desperately hoping it would stop, she rolled over on her stomach and went back to sleep, only to be disturbed fifteen minutes later by the sound of men shouting and a jackhammer pounding relentlessly against the pavement. Knowing this would be the end of her 'staying late in bed' sleep, Emma stretched out starfish style, cracking a few bones in the process and started to get ready for the quiet day ahead. Quickly checking the time, the blonde had about forty before the meeting with her super, Mike. She figured after talking with him, she'd stop by _Antonio's _and grab something to eat, maybe a burger. Emma did not have many plans for the day and wanted to focus on packing the apartment and how she would transport her items to Regina's place or the unit.

Walking towards the bathroom, Emma glanced down at herself, and remembered her little situation about sleeping with only underwear and a t-shirt. Mary Margaret did not have a problem with Emma's "nudity" but only asked of her to keep pants on when David stayed over. But the blonde became uneasy with how Regina might react to her sleeping conditions and the thought of the brunette seeing Emma in her underwear, suddenly provided her with two red cheeks. Pushing those thoughts to the corner of her mind, Emma wondered if she had any regular or decent sleeping attire, while brushing her teeth and inspecting the person staring directly back at her. There was some makeup remaining from the previous night, mostly eyeliner and mascara, but other than that the blonde looked like she did every single day. Blonde hair with small waves, flowing down her back, bright emerald eyes that experienced more things than the average twenty-six year old, and the cheeks she learnt to love. Through thick and thin, Emma's cheek continued to resemble two full moons, even when there was little to eat and the blonde looked like a stick. Her social worker said she had high cheekbones, but the woman was an idiot, because later in life, Emma found out her cheekbones were low.

Pushing pieces of hair behind her ears, with her free hand, the blonde became internally grateful she grew out those Dumbo ears, she had growing up, it was one of the reasons she mostly wore her hair down, in her younger years. It became a habit now and she rarely wore it in a ponytail, but today Emma thought she would mix things up. Slipping into the shower, the blonde spent little time enjoying the wet heat against her skin, not wanting to be late for the meeting. Emma had a small pet peeve when others were late and tried her best to be on time, as well. Spending only ten minutes in the shower, complete with washing her hair, the blonde scurried off to her room, knowing she had less than thirty minutes to dry off and appear decent to the outside world. Wrapping a towel around her head, Emma opened several draws and pulled out underwear, socks and a pair of skinny jeans. Tossing them on the bed, she carefully walked to the closet, not wanting to slip on her wet floor, and pulled out a long sleeve blue pull over, along with a brown leather jacket. Thankfully, she had developed the art of putting on skinny jeans, and it took her no more than five minutes to secure them around her waist. Shoes weren't a problem for the blonde, because she only had them in two colors, brown and black. Rushing off to the bathroom, Emma unraveled the towel atop her head, and quickly ran it through her hair, being only half dry; she grabbed a hair tie and placed it in a high ponytail. Not bothering with makeup, Emma dashed back to her room, grabbing her keys, phone, credit card, twenty bucks in cash and her badge, just in case, before exiting the apartment.

Not bothering with the elevator, Emma ran down four flights of stairs, arriving on the main floor with an increased heart rate. She was not tired or anything, but the feeling of acceleration made Emma crave those days when her only responsibility was fitness and strength in preparation for the final physical examination for the academy. The super's office was tucked behind in a corner, blocked by a tall ficus near the entrance, which someone might have easily missed it, if it hadn't been for the big sign saying "The Boss Will See You Know." Emma sighed softly, and knocked on the door before entering, only to be greeted by the man slowly turning around in his swivel chair. Mike's brain was filled with cheesy movies and an inflated ego, which made interacting with him uncomfortable and difficult. Before Mike could mutter his usual line, Emma sat down and spoke first, "Thanks for meeting with me today, Mike."

"Of course, Emma, when I heard you needed to speak with me pronto, I cleared my schedule and everything." He spoke with a matter of face voice, and smiled with only half of his face.

"That definitely was not necessary. I only need like ten minutes of your time." Emma mumbled, hoping she could move this meeting along.

"Don't take me too serious, Swan. Anyways, what did you need to talk about?" It was obvious the blonde wounded the man's feelings but she did not have the time to care about his bruised ego.

Getting straight to the point, Emma responded, "I won't be renewing the lease and I should be moving out in a couple days, well more like in a week or so."

A blank expression on Mike's face and his mouth slightly gaped open, Emma waited patiently for the man to say something. But several seconds passed and neither of them said anything. "Mike, dude, are you gonna say something?"

"You talking to me? You talking to me?" The super questioned in the worst De Niro impression Emma had ever heard.

"Jesus, yes Mike, I'm talking to you. Who the fuck else is in the room besides you and me? Is there any paper work that needs to be done or can I just hand you the keys when I'm leaving? Emma growled at the super.

Clearing his throat, Mike answered, "The key when you are leaving will be all."

"Good. Did Mary Margaret hand over her set yet?"

"Yes, she slipped it under the door. If that's all, I'd like to get back to my previous plans."

Removing herself from the chair, Emma reached out for a handshake but the super paid no attention to the gesture and resumed "working" on his computer. Not bothered by his rudeness, Emma swiftly left the office and started on her way to _Antonio's _for lunch.

Sitting in her favourite booth next to the Plexiglas window, Emma browsed through the menu, even though she would end up getting the usual, cheeseburger with everything and a cup of coffee, because her caffeine intake for the day was zero.

"Hey Emma!" A quirky voice called out.

Knowing the voice anywhere, Emma raised her head from behind the menu and smiled at the waitress beaming in front of her. Rachel had been serving Emma, since day one and attempting take the blonde on a date, too. "What's up, Rachel?"

"Nothing much. Just work, I guess. The usual?" Rachel asked while grabbing the menu out of Emma's hands. She knew the routine; the blonde would pretend to look at the menu but always ended up ordering the same meal.

"Yeah but give me coffee, instead." Emma requested.

Writing down the blonde's order, Rachel placed it with the cook and came back with a newly brewed batch of coffee and a container of cream. After pouring the coffee, Rachel slid into the seat across from Emma and waited for the woman to indulge in her caffeine. This became a habit of theirs, talking whilst Emma waited for her meal or another customer needed the waitress. Even though, Rachel had a little crush on the blonde, she enjoyed just being friends with her. Emma's eyes were finally opened, after sipping her coffee and raised her eyebrow, at the other woman.

"You've been doing this for over two years." Emma commented on Rachel's prolonged stare.

"And I'll keep doing it until you let me take you on a date." Rachel cocked her head to the side and smirked at the blonde.

"Well, you'll be waiting forever because I don't date teenagers."

"Both of us know that I'm a couple of weeks away from getting legally drunk. Age is but a number, hun." Rachel played with the ends of her hair, twirling them around her fingers, watching the blue ends twist on her naturally tanned fingertips. Born a dirty blonde with hair almost to her waist, Rachel followed the current hair trend and dip dyed her ends blue. She had gotten many remarks about her Cali girl look from customers and other girls her age, most not knowing Rachel was born and raised in California. She moved to New York four years ago, after her parents died in a car accident and was forced to live with her only living relative, uncle Zach. Her uncle was only thirty-two years old and clueless on how to handle a teenage girl, which motivated Rachel to find a job and move out of the two-bedroom loft, as soon as possible. She had been working at _Antonio's _for only three months, when she spotted Emma sitting by the blonde's now usual booth and begged the waitress who served that section to trade positions with Rachel. It took the Cali girl over two week to work up the courage to ask Emma out, which the blonde respectfully declined because of the age difference. Rachel eased the pressure and became grateful for a friend like Emma, but every once in a while she would ask the blonde out, only to be rejected.

"You do know I have a gun, right?" Emma asked but not meaning any of it. She enjoyed her relationship with Rachel and did not want to ruin it by dating the twenty year old. From experience, things would get awkward and nothing would be the same.

"Oh, a woman with dominance, interesting." Rachel teasingly smiled before looking around her section, checking to see if she was needed anywhere. "But on to more serious topics, how was your night? You look like complete shit. And I mean that in the most loving way possible."

Letting out a dramatic sigh, Emma responded to the waitress's question, "I had dinner last night with my new roommate and then had trouble sleeping. Plus, I just came from a meeting with my super. He's such an asshole."

Surprised by Emma's response about the roommate, Rachel asked, "The last time we saw each other, you were having trouble finding an apartment and that was like two weeks ago. What happened since then?"

"I found an ad in the papers, couple days later and went down to the apartment. We talked for a bit and then she invited me for dinner the next night."

"And now you guys are roommates," the waitress still a bit confused.

"Yeah." Emma simply answered before taking sip of her coffee.

"That's impressive, Emma. What did you do? Sleep with her?" Rachel playfully asked not knowing the blonde would take it so seriously.

Spitting out her coffee and almost choking, Emma answered her friend in midst a coughing fit, "What? Why would you say that? No, of course I didn't sleep with her. She's gonna be my roommate for Pete's sake. I mean, yeah she's attractive but no I would never, that's an untold rule or something, never sleep with your roommates. Why would you even say or think that?"

Rachel took in the scene laid in front of her, a babbling Emma with a face as red as tomatoes and simply smiled, trying to calm down the blonde. "Emma, chill. I was just joking. Don't take everything I say seriously, you know this. We've been friends for two years. I'm just impressed, that you landed a place so fast and easily."

Eyes widen, the detective inhaled and exhale, giving her friend a nervous laugh before burying her face in her hands, hiding from the outside world, knowing she made a complete fool out of herself. Hearing someone call Rachel's name, Emma knew her food would be ready and thankful to have something to take her mind off Rachel's innocent question and her random outburst. Looking up from her hands, the waitress was long gone and Emma sighed a sigh of relief and desperately hoped Rachel would never mention the conversation again.

Gathering Emma's food, Rachel wondered the reason behind Emma's nervous rant. Usually, the blonde would shrug off the comment, and carry on with the conversation but the thought of sleeping with her roommate bothered the other blonde. Setting Emma's burger down, Rachel eyed her friend carefully, before sitting down in her previous seat. For the moment, Rachel would not bother Emma with questions but she rather save them for later.

Emma bit down on the burger and a soft moan escaped from her mouth, people always were amazed at her unhealthy diet and how she also managed to keep such a fit body. She felt Rachel's eyes on her and when she looked up, the blonde had a smirk on her face. Knowing the exact thought on the waitress's mind, Emma commented before she had the chance. "Save it, Rachel. This is not the time for bedroom jokes."

Sticking her tongue out, Rachel left the booth to clean up several tables, leaving the blonde to her own thoughts and burger. Almost half way through the meal, Emma received a text message and wondered why anyone would be trying to reach her at twelve in the afternoon. Reaching for her jacket pocket, Emma noticed it was from Mary Margaret, only seeing "S.O.S", Emma quickly unlocked her phone and read the complete message.

**_S.O.S. 260 5_****_th_****_ Ave and hurry!_**

Dropping the twenty on the table, Emma took a big sip of her coffee before dashing out of the restaurant, running to MM assistants. The woman hardly used the "S.O.S" but whenever she did the situation was fairly serious and Emma never worried about Mary Margaret abusing it.

**About thirty minutes later **

Emma hopped out of the cab and stared at the shop, in front of her and could not believe her eyes. Her former roommate "S.O.S" her to a bridal shop, named _Cinderella's Carriage Ride, _and Emma prayed Mary Margaret got the address wrong. Entering the bridal shop, she was greeted with a store filled with bright lights, marble, wood and dresses everywhere. The main room, where the receptionist sat, had several dresses on display, white marble floors and two wooden pillars in the middle of the room and in between them, cases filled with jewelry and another pillar that looked like they were made of velvet curtains. And on her far right, what looked liked a rack of other types of formal dresses. Rolling her eyes, Emma walked over to the receptionist on her direct left, and asked for Mary Margaret.

"Your Emma Swan?" The woman asked with a surprised tone from behind a marble front desk.

Standing straighter, Emma responded with a hint of sarcasm, "The one and only."

The receptionist smiled painfully at Emma before she led the blonde to Mary Margaret. Emma followed her to the section where she saw the other formal dresses and then they made another right, which directed them to the section designated to dressing rooms. Knocking on the third door, Emma heard a faint whimper before Mary Margaret answered. "Emma is that you?"

Concerned, Emma answered, "Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

Not hearing a response, she took it as a yes, and opened the door where she found Mary Margaret, sitting on the floor with a dress on and a tear stained face. Knowing this was a serious emergency; Emma thanked the receptionist and closed the door behind her, before sitting down next to MM.

"What happened here?" Emma pondered while using her thumbs to wipe the tears from the brunette's face. She never saw the woman like this and it made Emma feel rather emotional and angry at whatever caused the sweet woman's pain.

"It's all so stressful. Picking a dress, flowers, a venue, cake, a caterer, band or DJ and I don't know, it got to me. One minute, I was squeezing into this dress and the next minute, my chest started to feel tight, I was grasping for air and then the tears came. That's when I collapsed, sobbing and gasping for air, on the floor. You were the first person, I thought of."

Knowing this was not the time or place to feel boastful, Emma dragged Mary Margaret in her arms, leaning the woman's face against her chest and holding her close, as if she were rocking a baby. No words came out, but she could not think of any, so Emma remained silent and held MM in her arms, couple minutes passed and the blonde felt the woman's breathing slow down. Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, Emma slowly moved Mary Margaret out of her arms and held her hands instead.

"Thanks Emma," softly whispered Mary Margaret.

"It's not a problem, MM." Emma smiled at her and smoothed the woman's bangs to its proper place; she cupped Mary Margaret's face before continuing. "I'll always respond to your 'S.O.S'."

Smiling back at Emma, Mary Margaret attempted to pick herself up but failing miserably, waited for the blonde to stand up, before extended her hand.

"Anything else you need help with?" Emma asked.

"Would you mind staying?" The pixie haired woman responded. Her parents were unable to fly in for dress shopping and she did not want to bother her bridesmaids, even though she knew they would not mind. Emma previously expressed her interests in wedding planning and Mary Margaret hoped she was not forcing the blonde into anything. "That's if you want to."

"It would be my pleasure. What do you need?"

Feeling more like her normal self, MM bounced up and down, before making her request. "There's this beautiful lace dress with pearls, on the display in front one of the rooms. Would you mind looking for it on the rack?"

"Of course."

Walking out of the dressing room, Emma turned to her left and saw the dress Mary Margaret was talking about. In the blonde's mind, it looked white but she knew it was probably a different shade of white. A strapless, heart shaped, dress with the top part of it completely covered in lace and decorated in white and brown pearls and the bottom was normally pleated. Emma knew from looking at the dress, this would be one Mary Margaret would walk down the aisle in.

Scanning the rack, Emma came up with nothing and set off to find someone to help her with the task on hand. Walking aimlessly around the shop, randomly running her fingers against the dresses, Emma found a salesperson talking with two women, after searching for several minutes. The gentleman about to leave, Emma picked up her pace and tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, the salesperson eyed Emma's attire before acknowledging her presence. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes. My friend likes this dress you have on display but I couldn't find it on the racks. I was just wondering, if you have it placed somewhere else or is that the only on in the store?"

Softening his features, the salesperson answered, "I'll help you, after I hand over an order to these two lovely ladies, Miss…"

"Emma… Swan." Emma muttered out, suddenly thinking about Regina.

"Great. Sit tight and I'll be back, Miss Swan."

Following the guy's orders, Emma sat on chair that was seated next to the couch where the two ladies sat talking about someone. With nothing better to do, Emma decided to eavesdrop on their conversation. Both appeared to be in their late 50s, early 60s and one had brown hair which she wore down and curled at the ends, and the other sported a pixie cut like Mary Margaret.

Brunette woman: "I'm so happy, Julie is settling down with Ethan. They make such a beautiful couple and probably gorgeous babies."

Pixie hair woman: "As am I. And even better, Ethan will be inheriting his father's company in two years. Julie is going to be attending a lot of charity balls and auctions, meeting Ethan's future clients."

B: "She'll have a marvelous time. It's every girls dream."

P: "Is it Regina's?"

Emma now interested in the conversation leaned in closer to hear the women clearer. _It's probably a coincidence Regina is a common name. _

B: "How would I know? We only talk once, every two weeks and she refuses to talk about her love life. She's more focused on her career than marriage, I assume."

P: "What about Daniel? They were childhood sweethearts, we all thought they'd be married with kids by now."

B: "Daniel and Regina was a perfect match, yes, I agree and he even proposed with his grandmother's ring. A beautiful thing, it is. But Regina foolishly declined, saying she could not be tied down to anyone while thinking about law school."

P: "Why I never! What happened between them?"

B: Daniel being a man of pride and honor decided he would wait until Regina was serious about marriage. However, Regina told him not to waste his time and to move on. I blame her father. I always tell him 'Henry Mills, you are the reason I might never have grandkids.' He was always filling her head with junk. Talking about settling down and being financially stable before entering into a serious and long-term relationship. Now look at her!"

The salesperson arrived with a mermaid style wedding dress, ending the current conversation between the two women. Emma learned more than she was comfortable knowing about her soon to be roommate and watched as the woman who the blonde assumed to be Regina's mother, walked away with her heels clicking against the marble.

"Lead the way, Miss Swan."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:This chapter is long overdue and I thank you for your patience, it's a bit longer for your long wait. I'd like to dedicate this to **_BlueTigress_, **I can always count on her to review on every chapter and it makes my day and does every single review I get from you guys. Hope you enjoy and you know the drill, review, review, review! **

Regina sat impatiently at her kitchen counter, staring every five seconds at the watch on her wrist, Emma's "hired movers" were suppose to arrive any minute and she lacked the patience for the expected arrival. The blonde told Regina that around three o'clock, two men would be moving her boxes into the apartment, she also hinted that they were not actual qualified movers but Regina did not know there was a school for aspiring movers. The brunette anticipated mostly seeing the detective again; it had been over two weeks since they had last seen each other and Regina weirdly missed the blonde's presence. Occasionally they would exchange texts, during the day and sometimes when neither could fall asleep, the messages mostly contained Emma trying to charm Regina and the brunette retaliating with sass or sarcasm. This could/ would have gone on for hours, if neither had demanding jobs and some type of a social life. But today Regina asked for the day off, this being the third vacation day the brunette had taken, since she arrived at the firm, for the anticipated move in.

Her thoughts drifted away, as she heard a loud knock at the door, suspecting it to be the movers, Regina slowly walked towards the door, a bit uneasy about the chaotic mess that would enter her apartment in the next five seconds. Another annoying habit she picked up from her mother, everything had to be in order because everything had its place. But with moving, nothing belonged in an assigned spot and that bothered Regina but she still insisted on waiting for the movers. Hearing her heels hit the hardwood floor, made her instantly regret not wearing flats because of how formal she was dressed for a simple move in. Finally opening the door, a man with a full beard, sporting a black leather jacket and jeans holding a box marked 'More Stuff" and wearing a frown, greeted her. While the man next to him about several inches shorter, wore one of the biggest smiles Regina had ever seen. Her eyes darted between both men before the one holding the box faked a cough and inquired about her name.

"Are you Regina Mills?"

Clenching the door and standing between the threshold, Regina's widened eyes finally landed on the person talking, "Uh, yes that could be me. I suspect you are Miss Swan's movers?"

Both of them snorted simultaneously, before the shorter man answered, "Oh, is that what she told you? We actually work with Emma. I'm Neal and this is Augustus." Neal nudged the man called Augustus in the side, which was returned with a low growl and a scowl.

Smirking at Augustus, Neal refocused his attention to Regina before commenting on Augustus behaviour. "Please excuse my friend, he's a bit grumpy today. This whole 'Emma moving in with you' put a damper to his plans on scoring her sweet loft and more."

The last few words of that statement caught Regina's interest, and she raised one of her eyebrows while staring at Augustus. With the little she knew about Emma and judging the man caught in her stare, he did not seem like the blonde's type. Putting on her best face possible Regina smiled at both men and welcomed them into the apartment.

"Come on in. Emma's room is past the kitchen, I left the door open." Regina opened the door wider allowing both men easy access, following behind them but stopping in the kitchen instead. She pulled out two water bottles and two glasses alongside them, waiting for the two men to retrieve the rest of Emma's boxes. Augustus and Neal came from Emma's room talking with hushed tones but both silenced themselves when they noticed Regina standing in the kitchen. Like at the door, neither one of them said anything but everyone stared at each other, Regina did not do awkward silence and decided to break the ice.

"Will Emma still be stopping by or is she busy at the precinct?" Perhaps not Regina's best but it was better than staring in uncomfortable silence.

Neal opened his mouth to say something but Augustus beat him to punch. "Emma took the day off and said she would be getting us lunch or something."

"Or something?" Regina would prefer if Augustus would stop being cryptic and say whatever he had to say.

"She wanted all of her closest friends or at least those who could come to see the apartment and do some kind of house warming thing," grumbled Augustus.

Surprised by this response, Regina excused herself from the kitchen and walked over to her bedroom to retrieve her phone. Closing the door for privacy, Regina quickly dialed the number she knew too well and waited for the line to open.

Emma answered the phone with a simple "Hey," before Regina started to complain about her unexpected house party.

"I know this is your home now but it is still mine, as well. And I would really appreciate it, whenever you intend on inviting people over to inform me first. Things between us will work a lot more smoothly that way."

The brunette did not receive a response but she knew Emma was still on the phone because of the slow breaths the blonde was taking. Did she scare the younger woman or perhaps Emma thought she was a bit too pushy or demanding? What if Regina had just screwed everything up and the blonde decided she could not live with someone like her? Regina waited the silence out because unlike in the kitchen, this silence did not bother her but she needed to know Emma's state of mind. She heard the blonde sigh dramatically before the woman spoke up.

"Don't you remember our conversation two nights ago?"

The brunette recollected the phone call but remembered very little about that night; she was too exhausted from work and needed sleep more than anything. "I'm sorry, Miss Swan but you'll have to elaborate more."

"Okay, so you don't remember. Basically, it started with you telling me that today you would be home to help me unpack. So being the amazing and generous person I am, I offered to buy lunch for us to eat at the apartment. Which lead me to think about inviting Augustus and Neal because of them helping me out and what not. And let the record show, I asked for your permission and you gladly accepted."

Feeling a thousand times embarrassed, Regina rubbed the back of her neck and tried to think of a decent apology but thinking of nothing, she only said two words. "Sorry, dear."

Expecting for Emma to demand more, Regina was taken back when she heard the blonde laughing. Knowing this was a good sign; the brunette relaxed a bit, feeling relieved Emma would not back out of their friendship. "So, Miss Swan, what are you buying me for lunch?"

On the other end, a smile danced on Emma's lips because she loved how easily the brunette could change her emotions; from annoyed to apologetic to teasing. She knew living with Regina would be an emotional rollercoaster and the blonde was in for the ride. Emma was currently at _Antonio's, _waiting for Rachel to return with her orders for lunch, and the phone call from Regina came as an unexpected but pleasant surprise.

"Ah, I forgot, you don't remember much from our conversation." Emma said while making circles with the spilt sugar from her previous cup of coffee.

"What did you make me agree to," questioned Regina.

"Make you? I don't think so. You might have been a bit tired but you knew exactly what you were agreeing to. You can't put that blame on me."

"Did I offend someone's feelings? My sincerest apologies, but still my question remains, what did you make me agree to?"

"Uh, nothing serious. You originally wanted a chicken salad but then you started rambling about how it had been years, since burgers and fries crossed paths with you. And naturally, I offered to help out with that situation, promising to bring it for lunch instead of that boring chicken salad, you previously wanted."

Emma knew Regina would not be too happy with the recent details she had just learnt but the blonde already placed the order and was pretty excited to see the other woman indulge in one of her favourite meals. Regina paced the room not wanting to disappoint Emma but she never really enjoyed greasy foods, well more like she was never allowed and after a certain point in her life, they never appealed to her. But there were always times for firsts and today would be one of those moments.

"I guess that works. But in exchange for one thing."

Not sure where Regina was going but Emma played along. "Yeah, of course, anything."

"You have to try my boring chicken salad. It only seems fair." Regina figured if Emma was going to enjoy torturing her than she would, as well.

Emma laughed out loud, drawing attention to herself in the diner, she mouthed "Sorry," before returning to Regina. "Well what a coincidence because sleepy Regina said the exact same thing."

"Great minds think alike, dear." Regina chuckled whilst smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress. Perhaps, she should change into something a little less formal, jeans and a nice blouse would work.

"So I've heard. Regina?"

"Yes, Emma?" The brunette took note to the change in Emma's tone, she did not sound like her usual playful self and wondered what bothered the blonde; hopefully it wasn't anything too serious.

Emma shifted uncomfortably in her seat; it had been two weeks since she had over heard the conversation between those two women about Regina. The blonde knew holding back a secret about her new roommate's past would ensue for chaos but Emma could not muster enough courage to tell Regina what she learnt in the bridal shop. It sounded like something personal and if it were Emma, she would want to keep that between herself and the other party involved. But this was a matter to handle face to face, not over the phone and Emma quickly lied her way out of the situation before she made things worst. "Uh, umm, our food just arrived. See ya in twenty."

Regina knew there was more on Emma's mind but she wanted to check on Augustus and Neal before either one of them broke something in the house. She would just have to interrogate the blonde later. "I'll be waiting."

* * *

Augustus and Neal managed to bring all of the boxes upstairs without scratching or breaking anything and both were now sitting by the marble island, slugging down the bottles of waters without taking notice to the glasses laid in front of them. Emma was supposed to arrive ten minutes ago, the boys look famished and she had no connection or relation to either of them, expect the blonde. But they would probably be over quite often and Regina figured, she should start making friends with them, so that ever encounter would not be awkward and uncomfortable.

"Are either of you Emma's partner?" Regina brought two more water bottles out for them and exchanged it for the now empty ones.

Augustus seemed a bit more at ease with being in the apartment and answered before Neal could butt in. "Nah, we are each other's partners, Emma is more of a lone wolf. The chief tried to pair her with other cops; rookies, experienced and even those close to retirement but no one worked."

"That's interesting. But what happens when, and excuse my lack of knowledge, if she's out on a case, after a lead and someone attacks or ambushes her. What happens then?" It didn't sit well with Regina that Emma could be severely hurt and no one would be there with her.

Neal answered Regina's question, "Don't worry about Emma. She usually grabs one of us or another cop in the station. All three of us are kinda like partners, maybe even family."

Regina smiled before she continued asking her questions, "It's nice to know someone has her back. I'm still a bit confused on the whole partner thing. Isn't there protocol about having partners?"

Augustus chuckled and ran his fingers through his beard, trying to think of an answer that did not sound like it was out of a textbook. "Uh, well it's a bit more complicated than that. It's not an official rule or law but everyone feels more at ease when there is someone watching your back. Emma just works better alone. But it's better than having a civilian writer tag along."

Regina did not understand the reasoning behind Augustus last comment. Why would a writer be a cop's partner, it would be like having a bartender second chair on a case. She figured it to be an inside joke cops had and shrugged it off. Augustus and Neal both saw the confused look that swept across Regina's face for the brief two seconds and were shocked about her lack of cultural knowledge. Augustus being the one that made the comment addressed her confused state.

"Have you never heard of the show Castle?"

"Excuse me?" Regina thought she had covered up her confused state pretty well but she should have known nothing could get past the detectives. Obviously, the show they were talking about had some significance because both men stared at her with disbelief and slightly opened mouths.

"Castle, it is a very popular TV show. It falls under the crime and drama category and it's been on the air for five years now. Basically a writer shadows a NYPD cop because of a book he starts writing and helps solve cases, as well. How have you never heard of it?" Augustus was a bit offended that someone had not heard of the trio's favourite crime show. Being a cop, one hardly had time to do things a normal person would but television shows were something they were able to keep up with, thanks to technology.

"I mostly watch the news and occasionally the weather channel, to check on any serious changes to the weather. But I'm assuming you're a fan of this show?"

"Yeah, we all are, including Emma, she's probably the biggest one." Augustus took a sip of his water while staring Regina down. What kind of person doesn't watch TV? It's one of the few things humans need to survive, food, water, oxygen, Internet and TV. And why would Emma even agree to live with someone who does not indulge in watching a few marathons of their favourite show?

Faking a half smile, Regina felt embarrassed and out of place with the sudden switch in the conversation. She wanted to make friends with Emma's friends but it seemed near to impossible when they looked at her as if she was a panda on display. Yes, not every day you heard someone say, they don't frequently watch television, but Regina never made time to sit down and stare aimlessly at a screen. If she was not going to accomplish or learn anything from it then why bother? It might make her different than ninety percent of the population but not weird or unusual, it was a personal choice of hers. However, not wanting to come across as preachy and uptight, Regina made a comment that would put a smile on Augustus and Neal's face.

"Maybe we should have a Castle weekend marathon and all three of you can fill me in." Regina hoped they would politely decline her offer because she had no actual interests in watching the show or hosting two extra people for a weekend.

"As tempting as that sounds, Emma would never agree to that. We've been trying to do one for two years but she keeps declining. Plus she makes fun of us, saying we sound like a bunch of sixteen-year-old girls, planning a horrible sleepover." Neal responded and his stomach also answered with a loud growl.

"On that note, we should check on Miss Swan's proximity before—" Regina made it halfway through her thought before a certain blonde came bursting through the door with two plastic bags containing take-away containers and another one that had a six pack of beer.

"Finally! The princess has arrived and she comes bearing gifts." Augustus exclaimed and rushed over to where Emma struggled to close the door. He grabbed two beers from the bag and skidded back to the island, high-fiving Neal in the process.

"Jeez, thanks for the help guys. I didn't just suffer thirty minutes of traffic to provide a warm meal for your stomachs." Emma scoffed while managing to close the door with her feet.

Regina held back a smile and went over to help the struggling blonde with her baggage; the smile, however, was inevitable because Regina was more than excited about Emma's long over due arrival. Maintaining her composure, she grabbed the two bags with lunch and inhaled the greasy odor of the burger and fries, a feeling of nauseous came over her but it passed soon enough to be replaced with hunger. Regina placed them on the island, in front of the boys, and turned around to grab plates and utensils but when she faced her guest both faces were elbow deep in the containers, stuffing their faces with food. Emma patted both of them on the backs before entering the kitchen; she took the plates from Regina and placed them back in the cupboard. Standing a couple inches away from the brunette, the blonde leaned against the counter and while she watched Augustus and Neal eat, Emma started to talk with her roommate.

"It's official. They have confirmed their gender. If I ever had any doubts, they are no longer existent."

Regina could only smile at Emma's remark; that's the only thing she seemed capable of doing. The brunette was lost for words and there were a lot of things on her mind to tell the blonde but for now all she did was smile. Forcing her mind and mouth to connect, Regina's mouth finally allowed her to say what she'd been dying to say for two weeks. "Welcome home, dear."

Softly smiling, Emma enjoyed hearing those three little words from Regina's mouth and hoped it would become a frequent thing; she could definitely get use to it. Emma thought about responding with something equally cute but since that was not her style, the blonde went for more of a teasing response. "I thought we were roommates, not husband and wife."

Rolling her eyes, Regina ignored Emma's comment and went to open the last two of the containers, before the boys ate both meals, as well. She popped one open and found her burger and fries waiting to be eaten, sighing loud enough for Emma to hear, Regina checked the other box to make sure the blonde did not back out of their deal. It in fact did contain a chicken salad, and Regina immediately cursed herself for agreeing to such an idiotic plan and allowing Emma to manipulate her, in her tired state.

Touching Regina's lower back, Emma smiled from ear to ear, excited about the current chain of events about to happen. The blonde did not even care, that she was being forced to eat a chicken salad, which in no way looked delicious but it would be worth the pure of joy of seeing Regina eat a burger. Emma guessed the brunette to be more on the reserved side, and when she mentioned she hadn't eaten a burger in years, well the blonde had to jump on the opportunity. It would probably be the last time, she ever manipulated Regina, in that way, but it was a price Emma was willing to pay.

Feeling the warmth of Emma's hand on her back, Regina attempted her best death glare, to steer away from how much she was enjoying the small but intimate contact they shared. She, however, was still upset about having to eat a heart attack between two buns with a side of cholesterol and it would become clear every time she took a bite. Regina then felt Emma's fingers rubbing circular motions over her back, soft enough that it would have been easy to miss but it was the blonde's attempt to calm her down. It was working because Regina's relaxed her intense death glare, mostly because it reminded the brunette of when her father would try to comfort her, after she had a fight with Cora, Regina's mother. Regina knew she should have stopped Emma but it had been so long since someone touched her with care. Both women snapped out of their trance, when Augustus coughed uncomfortably after watching the scene lay in front of him, and went on with eating their lunches and resumed their conversations with the boys.

* * *

"You totally enjoyed that burger and don't you dare deny it." Emma took a long sip of her beer and nudged Regina in the side. It had been over five hours, since they ate lunch and Emma, with the unnecessary help of Regina, unpacked her things and settled in with a nice cool glass of beer, after taking a long, warm shower.

Regina curled up on the couch with a glass of wine, facing towards Emma with a smile on her face. It had been a long day, after spending an hour with Emma's friends and eating that burger, which she hated to admit tasted sinfully delicious and it was nice to spend a quiet evening in. "It was okay and it's all I have to say. But what about my 'boring' chicken salad, I saw your face when you took the first bite."

"I hate to admit it but since I'm more of a woman than you are, so yes, I did enjoy it. The salad took me by surprise, I did not expect to like it so much but it doesn't mean I'll be eating it more often."

"More of a woman? Really, Miss Swan? And what makes you think so?" Regina set her glass of wine down and leaned her head against a propped hand on the couch. This conversation should get interesting.

"Uh, well, I had the lady balls to admit how much I enjoyed the salad, while you prompted to say, 'It was okay'. And for that I am more of a woman than you." Emma gulped down another mouthful of beer; she would need all the alcohol to win whatever argument the blonde had gotten herself into.

"I see your point but your only making that assumption because of this one situation. How could you possibly know who has more, umm, lady balls, if you are basing all your evidence on my one decision? Honestly, Miss Swan, I expected more from the cop than silly assumptions." Regina smirked, knowing whatever the blonde had to say would not beat her argument, one of the perks of being a lawyer.

Emma cursed under her breath, but instead of allowing Regina this victory, the blonde being the sore loser she was, Emma challenged the lawyer. "Fine. Then we should prove it."

"What?" Regina expected the blonde to retaliate but not this way. "How would we prove it?"

"Easy. This weekend we go bar hopping and each woman picks out someone for the other woman to flirt with but if you or myself backs out, then it's a shot for the loser." Emma smiled to herself. She was impressed with herself for thinking on her feet like that and suggesting such a brilliantly fun game. It was an old game the training officers, in the academy use to play, after a long day and Emma almost always use to win.

Regina stared at the blonde in disbelief; Emma didn't actually expect her to play this ridiculously childish game. She heard of the numerous amounts of drinking games the pre-law students use to play to relieve the stress and Regina was always a bit intrigued by them but stayed her safe distance. Her mother warned her about them and stated nothing good could ever come out of poor excuses to get drunk, which Regina blindly agreed with. This could be her opportunity to feel like a young college student again, and shamelessly wipe that smug smile off Emma's face and put a small dent in her ego. "Okay, and what does the winner of this competition receive?"

"Nothing, but a sense of pride. So do we have a deal?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I will play your silly drinking game." _This is not going to end well, Regina. You both have competitive spirits and someone's feelings are going to get hurt. _

"Oh, I assure you, it's not just some silly drinking game, it's a test of the fittest, the manliest of manly games. I'm pretty sure, I heard something about this becoming an Olympic sport or something." Emma managed to say all of that with a straight face but she was on the verge of cracking a smile.

"Hopefully my training will qualify me whenever it does become an Olympic sport and then I can give thanks to my amazing trainer, Emma Swan." Regina laughed at how ridiculous she sounded but it felt good to simply joke around and not talk about work or something work-related.

"If anyone is going to the Olympics for that game, it's gonna be me but I appreciate the generosity. You're too kind." The blonde smiled at Regina before releasing a small yawn. "It seems that your voice puts me to sleep."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment? Because if it is then it's a poor one." Regina knew exactly what the blonde meant but it was more fun teasing her.

"God, no. I mean, yes, it was a compliment but I meant it in the most endearing way possible. You aren't a boring person, far from it, but it's nice hearing you talk, like I wouldn't mind falling asleep to the sound of your voice." _That was creepy. It definitely sounded creepy and stalkerish. But it wasn't meant to come across that way, Regina just had a smooth, delicate voice and it was very relaxing. _

"Emma, I was teasing you. You should have seen your face, though. You looked completely petrified, a picture worthy shot." Regina laughed out loud, sniffling her laughter with her hand worried someone might knock for disturbing their peace. Looking at Emma, the blonde lips were pouting and crossed arms, if Regina did not know any better, she wouldn't have guessed the detective to be a serving member of the community. "Really, dear, petty looks? You're gonna have to try harder than that."

But Emma didn't budge, the blonde put on her best 'puppy dog eyes' and stared directly into Regina's eyes, she was going for the soul but eyes would work for now. The eyes have never let her down and she did not intend on losing tonight, two losses in a row did not sit well with the blonde. Emma saw the affect her eyes had on Regina, the brunette was beginning to show signs of sympathy and the other woman's eyes were searching Emma's face looking for a sign on how to comfort the blonde. Emma had to hold on for about three… two…

"I'm sorry, Emma. I don't know what came over me, maybe too much wine. But it's no excuse for making fun of you like that." Regina did feel awfully bad for teasing the blonde but she usually didn't apologize for her actions; Regina knew exactly what made her feel that way, those damn unbelievably cute eyes and how genuinely upset Emma looked. But then Regina saw the twinkle in the blonde's eyes and knew she had been swindled.

"Ahh, don't worry Regina, I'm a big girl, I can handle what you dish out." Emma jumped up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen to throw her beer bottle away. She made her way back to the couch but instead of walking to the front of the couch, the blonde slid behind Regina and planted a soft kiss on the brunette's cheek. It was a sweet gesture, her way of saying thank you and goodnight all in one. Emma placed two hands on the woman's shoulders and whispered in her ear, "Night, Regina."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait, again! But I wrote this chapter in one sitting because I felt completely horrible for making you wait this long. The story reached 200+ followers and I want to thank all of you for reading this and patiently waiting for my updates. Never would I have imagined it reaching this much. Thank you for all of your reviews and I love reading how you react to each chapter. It honestly makes my day. This chapter gets weird fast but I hope you like it. The bar hopping scene will be in the next chapter, it shall be a chapter filled with competition, rivalry and excitement. (that sounded cooler in my head with the voice I was using.) Enjoy and review!**

"When I said we should talk, I didn't mean for you to leave the comfort of your bed." Kathryn shuffled around her kitchen gathering ingredients for her morning coffee. She had been itching to communicate with her best friend for over two weeks but every opportunity that arise; one of them had something more important on their plates. It was Saturday and Kathryn knew Regina usually had Saturdays off, which lead her to quickly call the brunette before anyone else had to chance steal her.

"Don't be silly, Kathryn. I'm glad you called and it was quite brilliant of you to suggest Skyping. But it would've have been nice to sleep in, since I've got a big night ahead of me." Regina released a small sigh, instantly regretting Emma's foolish plan.

"Oh, a case?" Kathryn now mimicked Regina's position and was now sitting on her couch with both legs crossed over each other and a mug of coffee in hand.

"If only. Just some stupid, childish, idiotic bet that I foolishly agreed to, which I've started to regret ever since the word yes left my mouth."

"Bet? What bet? Who did you make it with?" With no help of the coffee, Kathryn was already alert and focused, intrigued by her best friend's current situation.

Regina chuckled by Kathryn's excitement for the details of her social life, and watched as the blonde put her coffee down and shifted all attention to Regina. "It's nothing, really. My roommate seems to have a competitive streak and is very determined in proving who has the most, and I'm quoting 'lady balls.' Like I said before stupid, childish, and idiotic."

"Well?" Kathryn was not satisfied with the answer Regina gave her.

"Well what?"

"Regina Marie Mills, I demand you tell me right now, what you plan on doing for this bet. And I mean stuff like rules, guidelines, and prizes. So, start spilling." Kathryn had use her mother voice and even though, Regina was the more assertive and motherly type in the relationship, Kathryn still had her moments.

Regina closed her eyes, while exhaling and inhaling before answering the demanding blonde. "We go bar hopping and we each pick someone for the other person to flirt with but if said person backs down, it's a shot for them. Obviously, the person with the most shots, at the end of the night loses. Apparently, the only thing we win is a sense of pride."

"Are you fucking kidding me? I've been trying for ages, and I mean ages, to get you to go bar hopping with me and all I had to do was make an attempt to bruise your pride and you're all in! 'No, Kathryn I'm busy. No, Kathryn I've got cramps. No, Kathryn my finales are coming up, you should study too.' But all of a sudden, this new girl swoops in and knows just the perfect way to crack the shell of yours. You're lucky, I actually like you because I'm really offended right now." Kathryn was only half joking but there was a part of her that felt deeply betrayed or maybe even jealous, that someone was able to get through to Regina on the first try and the brunette somehow allowed it.

"Kathryn, keep your voice down! She's still sleeping and I'd like to keep this relationship on calm waters." Regina saw the expression of hurt on her best friends face and knew that the whole bet situation really got to her. "Hey, look I'm sorry, sweetie. It's just when Emma propositioned this bet, I knew it would be a wasted attempt trying to turn her down, plus, I've never done something like this before and I sort of felt bad for rejecting you all those times. Who knows? I could have met the love of my life in one of those bars, if only I went with you."

Kathryn did not stay angry for too long because it became a difficult task, after hearing her best friend's sincere apology. She casually went back to her annoying, teasing and occasionally loud self. "Meet the love of your life? Please, Regina, you already met him but he slipped right out of your fingers." She knew the entire story and constantly reminded Regina of her wasted opportunity to be a mother, wife, and lawyer living in the suburbs.

Rolling her eyes, Regina commented on Kathryn's rude remark, "He did not slip out of my fingers. I let him go. We both wanted completely different things and I had no intentions on pulling his heartstrings by leading him on. Daniel was a smart boy, eventually he would have figured out, I did not want to get married, settle down and have kids. There was no way, I would have become a desperate housewife."

Kathryn raised her hands in surrender and watched as Regina's attitude quickly changed from cheerful demeanor to a depressed and sadden one. She knew her best friend still loved Daniel, and probably always will, but Kathryn also knew Regina would not have been happy with giving up her career for marriage with three kids, a dog and perfectly mowed lawn. "Sorry for bringing it up. Next topic, when was the last time you've spoken to dear old Mommy dearest?"

"Can we please talk about anything or anyone else but her? Mother, has been trying to set me up with single men from her country club and I keep declining but she keeps insisting. And anytime we talk, she always manages to mention Julie's upcoming wedding and how I could've been married long before Julie. I think, Mother, plans on driving me insane and she's doing an excellent job at that." Regina loved her mother very dearly, even though they did not have the best relationship growing up, the brunette made a constant attempt to make peace with her mother. Things were still rocky but in comparison to her teenage years, Regina could not ask for a more caring, loving and honest mother, than she had in Cora. Her mother loved the only way, she knew how and sometimes, it would not be the best way but Regina always her mother meant well.

"I don't see why, Mother, never brings up those things up with me? I'd appreciate once in a while, to have someone hooking me up with hot, rich, single men." Kathryn over the years practically became Cora's second daughter, and since both girls were polar opposites, what Regina lacked, Kathryn always made up for.

"Because, she is not worried about you finding a husband, I think she's more worried about you never keeping any of them." It was no secret that Kathryn had a numerous amount of boyfriends in the past and the blonde had always made it clear, if she was not happy or enjoying a relationship, on to the next one within minutes.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means we expect for you to have at least, three husbands. You go through men faster than a baby goes through diapers. Please, don't take offense to it."

"None taken, gorgeous. It's the truth, I shall be the Elizabeth Taylor of our family." Kathryn smiled at the thought of having a house full of riches and being able to identify, which came from which husband.

"Speaking of, have you got any new men in your life?" Regina started checking her email; while Kathryn started ranting on about all the guys she had already met in Chicago, and one of the ADA's who kept insisting on buying her dinner. She only tuned back in when Regina heard Kathryn mention Emma's name.

"Tell me about this Emma. On a scale of drinks out of the carton to wants to be around you 24/7 and even creepily looks like you, what kind of roommate is she?"

"She's a police detective, 27 or 28 years old, competitive but a sweetheart, loves crime, drama and suspenseful shows, which you'd think she hates because she knows how things actually happen but it relieves her mind from work. Has a really bad sweet tooth, loves burgers and fries, but is surprisingly in good shape, secretly loves chicken salad and has one of the biggest, most loyal hearts I've ever seen." Talking about Emma, instantly brought a smile to Regina's face, it was just something special about the blonde that made Regina grateful to finally have her in the brunette's life.

Kathryn seemed to notice this as well, because she had never seen such a smile on her best friends face and wondered what could have been so special about this roommate. Still taking into account Regina's newfound happiness, Kathryn noticed a certain blonde walking behind the couch, and if she wasn't mistaken, Emma appeared to be sleepwalking. "I'm guessing that's your Emma?" Kathryn pointed to the corner of her screen where the other blonde was walking.

Regina turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of a still sleeping Emma with an oversized t-shirt on and from the looks of it, no pants. The brunette knew Emma was not the best morning person but somehow still managed to roll out of bed, whenever she planned on the night before and function up to 70% with coffee. Sometimes, however, the blonde would wake up and be completely out of it that she could not do simple mundane tasks like turn on the coffee maker. Regina carefully analyzed the sleeping blonde, and her eyes lingered to Emma's toned and muscular legs, she'd seen them before on numerous occasions but they never seemed not to fascinate the brunette. Even though, Emma moved like a snail, her t-shirt still managed to rise up, which was just enough for Regina's throat to turn dry, after catching a glimpse of Emma's behind and her purple women boxers. _How can one woman be so unbelievably gorgeous, even she has just awoken? _

"Earth to Regina. Hello, remember me?" Kathryn saw Regina's prolonged stare and wanted/needed her to snap out of it before any inappropriate managed to find a way into her best friend's mind. However, instead of snapping Regina out her trance, she awoke Emma instead.

Emma only managed to mumble an incoherent sentence but she knew she had heard an unfamiliar voice and quickly turned around to find, a shocked Regina and an impatient looking woman on Regina's computer screen. Feeling a cool air on her upper thighs, Emma looked down and realized she was not wearing any pants, the blonde closed her eyes and slowly opened them back up, hoping this was all just a really bad dream. Regina and the woman were still there and Emma was still standing pants less, in front of her.

"Don't worry about it. I've seen my fair share of Regina's stuff, enough to last a lifetime. At least, you are wearing some type of clothing." Kathryn commented to break the awkward silence.

Emma blushed when the thought of Regina naked came to mind and she quickly looked away from both women and hurried off to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. While waiting for the pot, Emma foolishly, decided to face her embarrassment instead of running away from it. She sat a couple inches away from Regina, but faced towards the compute screen and started talking to the woman on the other end. "Hi, I'm Emma. Usually, I'd wait until the fourth date, until you saw the goodies but you've got something to remember me by."

Kathryn laughed out loud, impressed by how well Emma managed to cover up her embarrassment, and saw why Regina took such a liking to the blonde. "Nice to meet you, Emma. I'm Kathryn, Regina's best friend, previous roommate and neither biologically or legally her sister."

"So, you're the Kathryn, I've heard so much about. It's nice to put a face to the name." Emma was starting to feel more at ease, and became grateful she did not runaway from this problem, Kathryn seemed like a genuinely nice person.

"Regina talks about me? Surprise, surprise, was all of it bad or did she throw in some good things in there?"

"Oh no, Regina absolutely loves you! She admires how strong you are and your people skills and how easy it is for you to get laid. Ow!" The brunette slapped Emma's thigh, unnecessarily hard, forcing her stop talking and inspect the bruised area. "What was that for? I bruise easily, Regina! That's gonna leave a mark for days."

Regina smirked at Emma; thankful the blonde had finally stopped talking about her admiration for Kathryn. "I'll keep that information, in mind, next time, dear."

Emma rolled her eyes at Regina, before returning to her previous conversation with Kathryn. "Is she always this abusive?" Emma questioned whilst rubbing a hand against her thigh.

"Only if she likes you, which is twisted I know but it's her way of showing love. Has she tried to tickle you yet?" Kathryn remembered many times when Regina could not get her way and would tickle Kathryn merciless, until the blonde obliged to whatever the brunette needed or wanted.

"Regina, a tickler? This woman sitting next to me tickles people?" Emma knew for certain Kathryn was playing with her. Yes, Regina had a playful side, which the blonde relentlessly tried bringing out but she could never imagine the brunette actually tickling someone. It had only been three weeks, since they had known each other and this was by far one of the most shocking things, Emma would ever learn about her roommate.

Kathryn chuckled, enjoying the look of disbelief on Emma's face, "There are many things, you don't know about Regina and tickling is one of them. She really enjoys seeing someone laugh, cry and wither in pain from being tickled, personally I think it's a weird fetish."

"Kathryn Abigail Shephard! Will you please stop talking? I do not have a weird tickling fetish." Regina raised her voice and turned to Emma but with a calmer and sweeter voice said, "Emma, do not believe Kathryn, I do not have a tickling fetish."

Emma debated what to do next; she could have simply agreed with Regina or she could have pretended to believe Kathryn and further push Regina's buttons. The latter sounded much more appealing. "I don't know, Regina. If you didn't have a fetish, why are you taking Kathryn so seriously? Maybe because you know, deep down somewhere, that there is some truth to what Kathryn is saying."

Both Kathryn and Emma held their breaths, waiting for Regina to aggressively attack them with her sharp and brutal words but instead, the brunette smiled. "You're right, Emma. I should not have reacted the way, I did. It was pointless." Still with a plastered smile on her face, Regina placed her hand where she hit Emma before and ever so slowly, traced her fingers down to Emma's knee.

"Regina, what are you doing?" Emma's voice had an obvious shakiness to it because the brunette's fingertips barely touched her skin but the way Regina glided them over Emma's skin made the blonde want to wiggle and squeal.

"Nothing, dear." Regina stilled smiled at Emma but she now turned to her computer and told Kathryn, "Oh, don't think you've gotten away. Miss Swan, will pay for your troubles but you still have it coming." The brunette checked on her victim, Emma, and noticed the blonde biting her lip, trying to contain the torture she was in. Regina shifted from her fingertips to her well-manicured nails, and like her fingertips they barely came in contact with Emma's skin. But to the blonde, it felt like a million and one little insect were crawling on her thighs, which made this situation ten times worst. Emma desperately hoped, Regina would stop before she came to her knee because Emma was extremely ticklish there and even if someone rested their hand on her knee, the blonde would instantly jump. But as Emma inspected Regina's face, she knew the brunette had no intentions of slowing down or stopping, and Emma faced the computer screen praying Kathryn had some solution to make this stop.

"I'm so sorry, Emma. I should've known this would have happened." Kathryn gave the other blonde a pitiful look because she had more than once been in the exact same situation, as Emma. And knowing Regina, she would not stop until Emma begged for mercy.

"Regina, come on. Leave Emma, alone. This just goes to prove our point, you have a weird tickling fetish." Kathryn tried her best to reason with Regina but it only seemed to make the situation worst.

"Not helping, Kathryn! She just slowed down. I think having a bullet lodged in my shoulder would have been less pain than this." Emma was starting to tear up because Regina was only inches away from her knee and she had no idea what torture Regina had in mind. She finally reached atop Emma's knee and did what the blonde dreaded the most; she opened her fingers slowly over Emma's knee, allowing them to slide down and touch every last square inch of the blonde's knee. The blonde released a mixture of sobbing, laughing and squealing in the same breathe when Regina was about halfway through torturing her knee.

Regina patted Emma's knee and whispered in her ear, "Next time, I won't be so gentle."

"Hey, you made it. Congrats! You've got like hundreds more of those to go." Kathryn awkwardly chuckled, hoping both Emma and Regina would quickly forgive her and things could return to normal.

Emma glared at Kathryn, upset that she had to endure both of their punishments, "Nope, that's not how it works. You have to work for my forgiveness." Emma tried to keep her distance from Regina but also needed Kathryn to see her.

Regina smirked at Emma's struggle to stay at arms length from her, "Don't worry, Miss Swan, I don't bite."

"I think I'd prefer a bite over that two minute torture session." The blonde stuck her tongue out at Regina, showing just how childish she was before addressing Kathryn again. "Thought of ways to forgive me, yet?"

Kathryn sighed, she understand how both women could live easily with each other, because one was given her, the silent treatment, while the other was bribing her, Yin and Yang in perfect harmony. "Maybe, I've got a way to make your bet more interesting. Instead of playing for a sense of pride and all that nonsense, if you win, Regina has to cook for you and if Regina wins, well I don't know, she can pick."

"Seriously, Regina cooking for me? What's so interesting about that?" Emma looked between Regina and Kathryn, hoping to find out the mystery behind the woman's cooking.

"If I'll have you know, Miss Swan. I'm an excellent chef. Before I turned 17 and decided a law career was something that interested me, originally the culinary arts was my major of choice. I practiced day and night with family recipes, ones I'd learn from T.V, cookbooks and magazines and original recipes, finding ways to improve and master them." Regina glared at Kathryn once more, adding more punishment to already long list.

"Regina's cooking is like tasting ambrosia. Best thing you'll ever have, trust me on this one. She hardly cooks for anyone but when she does, you better savour every last bite." Kathryn mouth started to water, just thinking about all the meals she'd tasted from Regina.

"I'm in! Totally in, Regina name your price." Emma figured nothing could have beaten what she had on Regina.

"Okay, but since I'm cooking, you'll have two things. First, you'll teach me how to shoot a gun and secondly, I want a secret. Not just some any secret, I can find online if I look hard enough, I want the kind of the secret where it's weighs heavily on you, at night. Sometimes you find yourself thinking about or even wishing you had never heard about this secret in the first place, that's the kind of secret I want." Regina remembered the day of the move in, when Emma had something on her mind but lied about it; she wanted to know what it was. Even if it meant, getting cozy with several drunken men, it was a price she would be willing to pay. "So, Miss Swan, do we have a deal?"

Emma knew this would end badly on her part but she could never back down on a good competition. "Deal."


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy Monday! Hope you guys like it!**

"Are you sure I'm not over dressed, Emma?" Regina looked down at her clothes; the brunette wore a mini blue skirt and a cream button up blouse with a pair of the sluttiest heels she owned. Go big or go home. Regina spotted the other girls in the line and noticed most of them were wearing either skinny jeans or a skimpy dress, Regina felt out of place and immediately regretted her outfit of choice.

Emma unfazed by Regina's question, only glanced at her outfit before answering, "Nah, you look hot." The blonde was more focused on how to speed up the process of the line but the bouncer seemed to be working for his pay and refused to let anyone in. Several girls did the whole flirting, stroking his ego, offering 'favours' and even bribing him with money but nothing seemed to surpass him.

"What's the matter?" Regina had been talking for the past two minutes but Emma never answered the several questions the brunette posed.

"Uh, nothing. This line is taking forever. At this rate, Obama and The Republicans would have already solved their issues." Emma huffed and started tapping her feet against the pavement, not liking to feeling of being out of control.

"I thought this was a bar, since when do bars have lines?"

"Well, technically it's a club but with a bar. And they only want a certain amount of people at time, but I'm tired of waiting."

"Then, let's do something about it." Regina innocently replied. She had not been to too many bars or clubs, but one thing she did know was how to persuade someone. Regina grabbed Emma's hand and pulled them through the crowds of girls and the occasional guy tagging along for free drinks. Both women reached to the front of the line, hands still intertwined, and Regina stared directly at the bouncer.

"Excuse me, sir." Regina spoke with her authoritative voice and her stance ten times straighter.

"What do you want lady?" He was your stereotypical bouncer, a large exterior, black t-shirt, bald, blue jeans and arms crossed.

"I'm just wondering why the line has not moved for the past twenty minutes?" Regina wanted to come off sincere, not bossy and pushy.

"Maximum amount is already in there. A club with too many people starts to become trouble and when trouble starts, I have to deal with it."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. Are you the only one working tonight?" Emma tugged Regina's arm but the brunette tightened the grip, reassuring Emma that she knew what she was doing.

"Yep. Straight six-hour shift and I can't leave this spot. It's better than my security job, where I only sat for eight plus hours." The bouncer face expressed sadness, stress and comfort that someone showed interest in his life.

"You know, I'm a lawyer and I have several clients that would treat you better with benefits. I'd be willing to give you their numbers, if you are interested?"

The bouncer smiled and retrieved a pen from his pocket, making a gesture for Regina's hand, he wrote his number on her free arm. "Thanks. This really means a lot."

"My pleasure. It feels good helping someone out. I don't get to do it often." Regina flashed her pearly whites and pulled Emma closer, hoping he would get the signal.

"Now that I think about it, we actually do have space for two more people." He opened the red velvet rope, allowing Regina and Emma to gain access into the club. Before they were out of earshot, he shouted at both of them, "You guys make a really cute couple."

* * *

"Okay, do you have any suitors in mind?" Emma rang a finger down the water of her beer bottle and inspected all the possible victims of tonight's game. It would be fun pushing Regina's boundaries and perhaps seeing the brunette when she is tipsy.

"Not yet, dear. I'm taking in the scenery." Regina eyes scanned over the masses of bodies that were either, at the bar, on the dance floor or sitting down at one of the many booths. Emma explained the rules with clarity before they arrived and besides backing down, if you were not able to get the person's number, it also counted as a lost. The brunette had no problems flirting with men but considering her competition tonight, it might be a close tie.

"Mmmm, come on, Regina! We've been sitting down for ten minutes and you haven't at least picked out two people for me to flirt with." Emma started whining because she wanted to game to begin and hit the next bar before it was the clock strike 10.

"I think for this competition to be fair, I need to evaluate all the players involved." Regina took a sip of her wine and continued to people watch. In fact, Regina had already found several men for the blonde but she started to feel uneasy whenever she decided this would the one to start the games with. Maybe it was nervousness but her heart began beating rapidly and the thought of Emma having to throw herself on other men to prove a point, did not sit well with her. "Emma, dear, may I ask you question?" Regina had an idea in mind, to settle her thoughts but she wanted to verify it with Emma first.

"Sure. What is it?" Emma leaned in closer because the music started to deafen out any other sounds in the club.

"Is anybody in the club fair pickings?" She did not know exactly how to phrase her question but Regina figured this would be better than coming straight out.

The blonde did not know where Regina was going with this but she answered anyway. "Yeah. Why would you ask that?"

"So, you would not be mad or offended, if I chose someone of the same sex?" Regina braced herself for the worst, so it came as a shock, when Emma started laughing. "I don't see, why that's funny. It's a perfectly reasonable question."

Emma stopped laughing and took the hand Regina interlocked with early, and cupped both of the brunette's hands. "I'm sorry for laughing and I see now, that you still don't know much about me. The reason why I found it funny, well, you see, I'm not practically shy towards flirting with women. In fact, I rather enjoy flirting with them, among other things. What I'm trying to say Regina—

The brunette understood where Emma was going with the conversation about five seconds, into it. She did not need Emma to spell it out for her. "You enjoy the company of other women. It's not that hard to say, dear."

Emma rolled her eyes and chuckled before responding to Regina's blunt interruption. "I don't think people born after 1970 use that phrase but you hit bulls eye. Don't get me wrong, I like the company of men too, it's just that women appeal to me more."

"Emma, you're bisexual. It's fine. I'm not going to burn every surface you've ever touched. I just wanted to clarify things." Regina felt more at eased learning this about Emma because she felt more comfortable with the competition.

"Good to know. I was definitely worried about that. But since you asked me, I think it would be common courtesy for me to return the favour. May I chose women for you to flirt with?"

Regina simply smiled, "Perfectly fine."

* * *

Regina was on her fourth player, and she was 2 for 3, being that the last guy Emma picked turned out to be a happily married man, throwing his best friend a Bachelor Party. This round, however, the blonde picked the prettiest girl in the club, who was currently sitting with her friends, at the other end of the bar, and looked like she did not want to be bothered.

"There's always the option of taking a shot, instead of being rejected. At least one won't hurt your self esteem." Emma, actually, had her doubts about this one. Regina had already proving she could sweet talk her way into any situation like the bouncer from the door. This was something she really wanted and Emma had no idea what little tricks Regina hid under her sleeves.

"Please, Emma. Your silly little tricks will not work. This one will be a walk in the park." Regina smiled at Emma, before taking a sip of the blonde's beer and heading towards the other end of the bar.

Emma could only see the interactions between both women and desperately wished she were closer to the action because from the looks of it, Regina might be returning empty handed.

**Regina's POV **

With the other three players, Regina did not know what to expect from the situation, but with this one, the brunette knew all the signs of a woman expressing interest, signs of discontent or even when they wanted someone to leave them alone. She had insight into the female brain and decided to use that to her advantage. Regina sat two seats, away from the girl's entourage, enough to overhear the conversation and spot what she was drinking. It looked like rum and coke, but just to be safe, Regina called for the bartender.

"Another glass?" He was quick to draw the bottle from behind the bar but Regina touched his arm and shook her head, no.

"I actually would like to buy another of whatever that lovely young lady is drinking, she looks awfully upset tonight." Regina smiled at him and watched as he delivered the drink over to the party. The recipient seemed to enjoy this gesture and asked to be shown the person who sent the drink. Regina maintained her composure and pretended to be bothered with some mundane task.

"Thanks for the drink." The girl whispered in Regina's ear before taking the seat to the left of her. From up close, she was prettier than the brunette thought. She was a blonde like Emma, but her hair rested on the tip of her neck. She appeared to be younger than both women but that did not take away from her beauty. Aside from her youth, she was remarkably short, probably two or three inches shorter than Regina. Regina noticed she had an accent and identified it from New Zealand.

"No need to thank me. You looked upset and I wanted to help you feel better." Regina put on her best flirtatious face because she knew this would be one for the books.

"Oh, I'm not upset more like angry or frustrated. It's my birthday and I told my friends, nothing too fancy or crazy; a simple dinner with friends and maybe going back to one of their places for drinks and movies, a girls' night. Instead, I've got guys hitting on me all night long, and my friends slowly leaving with fours, thinking they're tens. It's just not what I had in mind." She slowed down her rant and looked at Regina with disbelief. "I'm so sorry. Here I am, talking about my irrelevant problems and I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Clara, nice to meet you."

"Regina. The pleasure is all mine." Regina shook hands with Clara and held on for a second longer.

**Emma's POV **

Until Regina returned with another failed conquest, Emma decided to occupy herself with talking to guy sitting next to her. They had been talking for about five minutes, and when Emma looked up to check on Regina, neither the brunette nor the girl were no where to be found.

"Hey, bartender! Yeah, you, umm… where did the brunette and pretty blonde head off to? They were sitting over there like a second ago." Emma did not want to come off as pushy, but if something had happened to Regina, she would never forgive herself.

"Yeah… those two. They were really hitting it off and then I remember hearing one of them mentioning going on the dance floor. Turned around, to fix a glass of gin and tonic, next thing I know, the blonde one is leading the brunette towards to floor." He talked nonchalantly, while mixing a martini in a shaker.

"Thanks, man." Emma slapped a ten-dollar bill on the counter and started making her way to the dance floor. She knew probably nothing serious happened to Regina but Emma needed to double check and make sure things were okay. The dance floor had a lot more people than she was expecting and the blonde knew this would be a difficult task. She started feeling her way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Regina's shirt and hair.

"Hey, sweetie, wanna dance?" A guy pumped up on steroids placed his hands on Emma's hips and started to pull her in closer. Not in the mood, for being sexually harassed, Emma's police instincts kicked in and she kneed him in his manhood, leaving him leaning over on the dance floor.

Continuing her search, Emma passed through several couples, who looked about ready to strip naked, when she spotted Regina. Not believing her eyes, Emma moved closer to Regina's look alike, catching a better view of what was being unfolded, in front of her. First of all, Regina's bloused had been popped several buttons lower, revealing a whole lot of cleavage. The brunette had a firm grasp on the mysterious blonde's hips and both were as close as God intended, swaying to the beat of the music. Regina moved her partner's hips, so sensually, that it caught the stares of other couples around them. Emma had never seen anyone moved, in such a way, where it looked like they were having sex on the dance floor.

At first, like the rest of the crowd, Emma shared admiration for Regina's ability to move but then it slowly changed to jealously. Emma never felt jealously this intensely and figured it was because she realized the competition she had in Regina. But subconsciously, Emma wished Regina had dancing with a different blonde.

**Both POVs**

Regina had no idea what came over her but one minute, Clara was dancing at a respectably safe distance and another, both women were face-to-face, too close for comfort. The brunette had never done something like this before, mainly because she never had the opportunity, but she had no objections to it. Regina figured if you want to take home the prize, then you have to do it big. Clara made the move and started dancing closer to the brunette, but Regina realized, Clara had no dancing skills. It started simply, showing her how to move her hips to the music and now they were sweating, on each other.

Regina felt a force tug at her arm, pulling her away from Clara and when the person spun her around, the brunette came in contact with her roommate, Emma. Regina figured Emma wanted to stop the show before the brunette could actually seal the deal.

"I think this constitutes as cheating, Miss Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes, not even caring about the stupid game anymore, only think about getting Regina faraway from the other as possible. "Call it, whatever. But I think we've spent enough time here. We should head to the next spot."

"Is someone jealous because I might beat them, at their own game?" Regina smirked, at Emma, knowing the blonde did not like being treated like a child.

"No! I'm not jealous. I don't get jealous. I'm just saying, we should leave that's all." Emma crossed her and involuntarily her bottom lip pouted, which tugged at Regina's heartstrings.

"Fine", Regina turned to Clara to deliver the next part of her sentence, "But I didn't even get Clara's number."

A tint of red, appeared on Clara's cheeks, and she pulled a small business card from her jean pocket. "I carry one around, just in case. Who knows when I might meet a potential client or a beautiful woman?"

Emma scoffed but Regina only smiled at the compliment, she took the card from Clara and read it over, the blonde was a party organizer. "I'll definitely be using this card."

"I hope you do." Clara walked towards Regina and went up on her toes, before placing a short and soft kiss on the brunette's lip. She shocked both Emma and Regina, leaving both women breathless. "This has been the best night of my twenty five years, I'm glad my friends dragged me out tonight." She walked away from Regina, still leaving her in a state of shock.

Regina touched her lips, still feeling the sensation of Clara's soft lips on hers and warmth spread through her body, something she had not felt in a while. "Well, I can't wait for the other bars."

"Whatever. I'm tired of this stupid game, anyways. You win. Let's just go home." Emma mumbled to loud enough for Regina to hear, exiting the dance floor, leaving Regina to wonder what put a damper to the blonde's party mood.


End file.
